465

I saw ballerinas in the hallway
walking and with darkened eyes
moving slow
tearing down for the night.

I smelled your breath
but I had left
I guess it was just wind.

As winter crept and cracked
its bones into view
I slept outside in a coat
marked the days by blinking.

If it wasn’t spoken
then it wasn’t real
so I built it until it collapsed
my frozen guardian
a man without a body in the spring
but a home in the winter
even if it happened to be
just the branches I curled around.