Wednesday, April 13, 2011

On a Hill Behind Our House

Once in the winter I hid in the shed.
The one that dad turned into a playhouse
And put up on pallets
When the ground would get cold.

I wrapped up in a quilt your grandmother made
And pretended the wooden bench
Was a bed I'd sleep on for days.

My plexi-glass breath helped pass the time
Which felt like forever
But I knew it was minutes.
I only was sure that I suffered alone
And what could you know?

The fox we had seen the autumn before
Drew a map in the snow
And asked me to follow him
Into the woods, to where we had laughed
So hard we were sore.

It was only a look that split me apart
As I struggled to breathe and
He fell to his knees.

I wasn't afraid of freezing to death.
I'd die there of hunger just not to forget.

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