In the sleepy time, stumbling, eye rubbing middle of the night
Where the starlight and streetlight mix and out here in the country
Gathering together and reflecting off the snow covering
Their harvest scattered up thru the window in a faded shaft of light
That bends and falls out across the bed
Showing me only the flattened sheet
Telling me only that you’re not here
You came into town like a snowstorm
And while others ran and hid, seeking shelter
I ran out to you to embrace you
Finding comfort in your winds and your wildness and surprises to come
The constant fall and flow of flakes
Swirled in the air and I danced
Madly spinning in circles, my tongue laid out
For me to taste all of you
As we played alone
In a worship and adoration
For day after day
We kept each other company
Alone
While others only watched from windows
With opinion and pronouncement on you
Or on me
Or somewhere inside the pale recognition
Of their own missing dream
That still lives outside
Buried in snow
But wind and weather always move on
The silence leaves either an empty or echo of you
I stare at your miracle now left behind
Seeing colors and shapes that were not there before
Now mine for having danced them into creation with you
But the crunch is the cold under my foot
The sound rushes out from underneath each solitary step of mine
And into the air
Rushing to follow you
I hear it and feel the air nip at me as I stand and watch
Part of me try to follow you
But I know that I am alone
And now am left with Winter…
JL Grady
Stumbling Toward Certainty 