i opened the door to the freezer and just stood there
staring in at all of the food until it began to thaw
and with the cold air billowing out into a warm room
i thought about calling out into an empty house
to ask if you wanted to do something easy for dinner
if i’ve learned anything it’s that you
don’t always need the courage to move forward
just the resistance to turn back
and the composure to remain still
even when the air is cold
i want to stand like a monolith at the center of
a town that pushes against the storm
or anything that distracts me from the fact
that there’s still food in my freezer
that belongs to you
but i don’t think i want it to change
i want it to continue to exist as
the preservation of an era
the remnants of a life
that we used to live
anything to remind me
that it happened
and that it was good
2016 took so much from the world
i’m sorry that we too
got swept away in its tide