Circumspection

If there is an hour of coldness in me
it is because I have loved
because I have confused pain for whimsy
because the summer sun can only hide 
winter for a few months at a time

If there is a darkness at my core
that singes and vibrates when I think too much
it is because her eyes once saw me
for the last time because I didn't know
then it was the last time I would ever be home

If there are burrs that never soften
it is because these things that made me
made rough cuts and left jagged hopes
because I have run barefoot as a man
and cut my feet like the child never did
because in the end this all will end
and I fear the silence

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