Frozen with Fever

Riley Danvers

Crystals fall from branches
laden with robes of ice,

shimmer in sunlight.
I should be happy here

among the trees and snow,
but instead I ache.

Instead I burn with
need for the love he will not give,

The man outside the car
Putting chains on the tires;

I ache for the love he withholds.
I need affection to feed

the communal parts of us,
this bleeding marriage.

My mind is warm,
my body aflame,

the fever of empty spaces
turns me frigid.

I want to leave the car
and merge with snow

and trees, cool my soul,
freeze the bruises on my spirit.

I need more from him than I
will ever receive

and now
must write myself into a

woman that will allow me
to leave.