Katrina Kaye

I freeze
without you.

The towers
I place
around me
are set
on fire,

but they can
not keep
me warm.

I reach
for you,

not as easy
to find
as I hoped,

not quite
where I
thought you
would be.

In your
absence,
I lay
a slice
of memory
on my chest,
over flesh,

not as tender
as I remember,
not as much
a second skin,

yet
somehow
the shiver
is pacified.

“Cold” is previously published in Rabbits for Luck (2016).