When the light thins and loses its shadow,

The wind runs cold fingers through my hair

And tugs my scarf loose with deliberate delicacy.

I tell the wind to unravel me too, yes,

Carry me into the crimson horizon.

Let me grasp the last rays of warmth;

Let me embrace the last sunset.

But it simply

Caresses my unmoving body with its clammy touch.

Splotchy gray leaves pirouette insouciantly past me,

A perpetual pursuit of some predetermined destination.

I watch them swirl away and wonder if they’re

Chasing the sun too.

I tell the wind to give me that same freedom, yes,

Spin me into the sky.

Let me seek that untroubled joy;

Let me dance far, far away.

But it simply

Pummels my clumsy body to the ground.

Ribbons of wild geese trace an invisible path to the south

With their sweeping formations and soaring cries for home.

They’re leaving before the frost can render them flightless.

I tell the wind to lend me wings too, yes,

Lift me above the stagnant lakes and snow-capped peaks.

Let me escape this coldness;

Let me fly away while I still can.

But it simply

Cradles me and rocks my heavy, trembling body to sleep.

I know that the sun dies many deaths.

I know that everything migrates.

I know that even

The wind leaves in search of new warmth.

Yet I stay right here, yes,

I stay right here.

I can only stay right here

And make friends with the frozen silence.