A December Apart

Last December,
we were a hearth,
embers blazing beneath a frozen sky.
Your breath was my language,
your heartbeat my compass—
each pulse a hymn to the warmth
we thought would outlast the cold.

But this December,
the silence stands between us
like a snow-laden tree.
I look for you in the shape of shadows,
in the way the wind bends
as if whispering your name—
and find nothing but the hollow echo of forgetting.

Do you remember the streetlamp glow
on that corner where we lingered,
hands trembling, not from the frost
but from the weight of our words?
Now the street is a stranger,
its light a foreign tongue.

Last December,
you called me by names
only the night could hear.
Now, the moon rises uninvited,
its cold eye watching
as we pass each other like ghosts,
the gravity between us undone.

Tell me,
does your breath still catch
when the first snow falls?
Do you trace the frost
like a map to the place
we lost ourselves?

For we were lovers once,
and now we are strangers.
And yet the seasons—
they betray us.
Each December,
the air carries your absence,
as if it never left.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2024

Poem

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Thacker Avatar
December 30, 2024 at 10:02 AM
Simply stunning!
Al-Khalili Avatar
December 29, 2024 at 2:11 PM
Poetry like yours is poetry for the soul. I'd read a book of these kinds of poems. Thank you for sharing. Very solid ending. I've been going through a hard time this December and this poem is relevant. Not about lovers but about kin. Thank you again. I hope to read more of your work.
Agustin Avatar
December 22, 2024 at 5:33 AM
Thanks for sharing this... exposing your thoughts through your unique poetic style. Welcome to Poetry Soup. I welcome you with the love of the Lord, expressed by John 3:16 of the Bible, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Be blessed.
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