We never realize how frozen we are
until someone starts to melt our ice.
And let me tell you,
it’s not the kind of thaw that comes with spring—
no, this is the kind that cracks you open
like a glacier surrendering to the sun,
splintering into shards that cut
everyone who tries to hold you.

I was a fortress of frost,
a cathedral of cold,
my breath a ghost in the air,
my heart a stone buried deep
where no one could find it.
I wore my silence like armor,
each word I didn’t say
another brick in the wall.

But then you came,
with your hands like fire...