Snow covered caps
for mountains,
a heart chilled in the fridge
for fear of the heat,
for fear of the warming of love,
broken by cold branches,
and not by anything even remotely warm.
Hope is a forbidden word
when you've felt your heart
shatter like ice
at a reply,
and yet you lean in,
he is still warmth,
and your heart may be freezing itself
to hide from the feelings
like a terror waiting around the corner
that the heart knows better than to trust.
He is steady,
like a stone,
before it rolls away,
and she thought he was rolling already
(with her)
and now, she slips her hand back into her own,
afraid to reach out in the same way,
once more.