The air is frigid,
The backseat of the car plush and would-be-comfort
But it is still ice, as in cold
Body heat, body warmth
Not applicable in threes but we try our best
The tear stains don’t help
Trickling down faces, salty and cold
Threatening to freeze halfway down
Preserved in a readily breakable icicle
The timer is set but we don’t count the minutes
Seeping the agony of existence in such a time as this where we suffer together, learn together, grow together
Together together together
We’re much more alike than we realize
We all learn. We all cry. We all freeze
Be my salvation, saving grace.
Grounding me to the earth so I do not fall into bushes, mis-stepp, punch maniac, wall reckoning
I would have floundered once.
To avoud climbing to car roofs to sit on the ice which slips beneath my boot heel, relinquishing grip and denying admittance to the metal bite.
And to stop my running into the street,
This time not due to the suffering I face but to feel most alive
Dangling on the precipice of existence.
But no, never that because sending me backward into a spiral of grief would be detrimental to my brain space.
Health.
Our health.
Collectively breathing in the back of the car
Leaning on each other, relying on one another to not fall completely off the map, to not drag the pack down, down, dow….n