Dorothy's Year

I don't know how to start an email
So I sit, letting the cursor blink for me.
Within the glass of my watch
Reflects my neighbor's joy
For perfumed cards and wrapped tarts
Between their muffled phrases
I am drawn to the window
Against an inch of snow
Perhaps, there's a perfect moment
When them and these tapes of you
Draw your face in the little lights.

Tossed the lump of coal into the fireplace
Maybe the impish sinned for warmth
There's a cloud within me today
Because I could never replicate the way
My heart and the sky above sunk into your eyes
When they saw the slightest jingle,
A light strum of your fingers, tapping steadfast
Across my nails, pushing my heart in and out
Of that little circle of street light, that remains now.

Leaves still stop me
Especially the ones from decked trees,
And on these days of revelries,
I am always given a seat on the roads
Watching hearts on balloons scramble for gifts,
I left yours at home between the crumbling plaster
And the way your strands fell on my shoulder
I smile at the silence now
Because the winters do leave you breathless.

It's late, this year took a lot to replenish,
The red hats are now with quiet bells
And too sacrosanct to be in telephone books,
It's been a minute off the cigarettes
I could hear the trains, the cars, the footsteps
From our time, and you vanishing around the corner,
Saint Nicholas left for you without a return address
Yet every 25th night, since I couldn't get a year,
He gives me an ear, and we smoke together.