the frost that answers nothing
by: chandra jordan
because it is almost morning and the heat has not yet chosen a side
because the coffee tastes like something burned on purpose
because the sink is full of last night’s confessions
because the dog will not look at me when I say your name
because the phone screen glows like a small, private moon
because I keep turning it face down as if that matters
because the house remembers the shape of your boots by the door
because the dust keeps settling where your hands once were
because the mirror refuses to blur my outline
because the whiskey is cheaper than honesty
because I said I was done and meant only for an hour
because silence has a pulse and I press my ear to it
because the field behind the house is all frost and wire
because something small out there keeps trying to live
because I do not know how to help it
because I have rehearsed leaving more than I have left
because the truck starts on the second try
because I wait for a sign and call it weather
because there is always a reason that sounds like mercy
because there is always a reason that sounds like love
because I am still here, and that must mean something
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