A thaw.
A gentle melting of the inflexible,
a slow turn towards a warmer season that promised to come.

My grief,
has been a winter.
The short days, just when I turn myself to see the morning light and
realize, that if I manage to rouse myself,
I can participate.
I can move a bit forward, feel myself
start to warm and thaw.
But then, too soon,
the sun is already dipping.
I’ve lost my momentum,
that bit of tangible hope and energy I felt
has already escaped me.

Wet at a campfire
only a few matches left,
and a crappy Circle K lighter
that doesn’t really work.
But what does one really expect for 89¢?
Then I remember,
I’m the girl who always carries the Well-Stocked Emergency Kit.

Go back. Look again, I tell myself.
You’ll find more matches.

~ K. Applegate-King