Go ahead near the end and try
To warm yourself in solitary winter
Go burn the letters, the diaries, the notebooks
The poems and the stories
Watch them flare and flame
Crackling down to ash
At last only smoke carried off by the wind
But there will be no way to burn the memories away
Because even when all the rest is gone
They will remain bitter cold
Biting ice and shivering
Frozen jagged raw
Until the season’s final day is done
* * *
Note: This is my rough draft for Wednesday 12.20.23
Lanning Lee 