january poem - Lili Raynaud

the snow has been 

quietly eating up 3rd ave

for hours

falling in thick, heavy flakes

i wake up to the hum of the 

stove and

the smell of sugar

my roommates and i talk 

more than we have in weeks

i stand in front of the kettle

they killed another person in Minneapolis this weekend

something beeps in the distance

(it seems like

something is always beeping on 14th street)

my hair feels heavy

our drafty windows do their best to keep the storm out

& the cold bites 

at my hands

unforgiving

head raw with winter whites