Winter Solstice II

Winter Solstice II

Frannie Zellman


Winter Solstice II


Longest night of the year.

We stand near waves.

Meeting for the last time,
we summon up morsels
of courage.

"I understand"
is not what I say.
But my icy left hand
meets your gloved right
as if to acknowledge
what worked.

Clouds scud
over rocks
and find themselves
over land.
The hours pass
in wishing,
as if one right word
could absolve.
I scream silently.
"Have you forgotten?"
But my un-sounds
 arch over the Sound
and fall in.
Your face shuts off,
determined not to relive
or grant leniency.

The cold sinks in.
All around us,
air closes,
pulls night deeper.
Once upon a time
you pulled me back
from a sure fall.

Have you forgotten?