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.