---
silent spirits, forgive me
for disturbing your temple of snow
I speak my weakness, hunger
to walk, to see, to feel
beauty frozen in time
and to never grow old
but you, your arms hunched over
in little mountains of indifference
or houses of pain
I want to whisper to you, how much
I regret, all the memories I ache to undo
but say nothing
only emotion echoes from my bones
rattling the trees
graciously, snow swallows all the sound
---
photo: alpine lakes wilderness, Washington, november 2020