November shows off
frigid trophies

the limbs of the rain
hanging from metallic bridges

still like a woman that braves
explosions of cold

the raindrops on her cheek
flow no more

poppies clotted in her veins
into fossils of the past

nothing moves her, not even
the first cough of snow

stillness
is a form of healing


Published in "As One Cradles Pain"

Ascent Aspirations, Canada, 2012