The sleet plays percussion
On the stove vent
While I’m fixing tea
Feeling the ice
Settle back in deep
It helps not to dwell
On past warm days
And short nights
It helps not to imagine
Just enjoying the sound
A storm makes
While knowing you are safe
Against the elements
Against the future
Against letting go
But if that isn’t possible
Remember how plants sleep
Until it is safe to awaken
And take their advice
Unsheltered though you may be
If that’s the only way
To be sure you are still here
For the world being created
By the same hands
Now cradling a warm mug
Like they are holding hope
Even as the ice piles up
Covering familiar paths
It should be strange: feeling lost
In your own home
Or your own skin
But it just feels like returning
A comforting white blanket
Piling up all around
Remembering all too well
How to sit with silence
Like a friend
Bring it the very cup of tea
You ached to be offered
Listen to the wind sing
Reminisce about how
This isn’t the first winter
She has reminded you
How much time
Is needed
To heal
