hate is hot coals on cold nights

love endures,

but hate –

hate gives you the hottest fires

a burning that won’t ease

flaming in the pit of your belly

eyes alight, skin ablaze, heart afire

brilliantly aflame

searing through life
hate is hot coals on cold nights

love is a warm blanket for cold days

that first time, a Christmas tree

the kindness of strangers

towards children

we didn’t know what we didn’t have

making do with what we did

stringing popcorn on the tree

the girl next-door would eat it up

but we were wrapped up in love,
that warm blanket for cold days.

lust is a hot knife through hard ice

it was easy

to pick you

to pick you up

to keep you

for long enough

[all these years,

a long time

for something

that wasn’t love]

lust is a hot knife

through hard ice

but some things

melt easily –
only to harden again