I Was a Kaleidoscope

I put on my overcoat
And walked into winter
My teeth chattered rhythms
And they were grouped in twos or threes
Like a Morse code message was sent from me to me
And cars on slippery slopes were stuck
People pushing through their mittens
As I was beginning
To feel it soaking through my shoes
Getting colder with every step
I took to your apartment, dear

And I was a kaleidoscope
The snow on my lenses distorting the image
Of what was only one of you
And I didn't know which one to address
As all your lips moved

And this is when I forget to breathe
And all the things I scripted
They sound unfounded
And it's the look that your giving me
That tells me exactly what you are thinking:
"This ain't working out"

They got their mothers worked in to a panic
Sledding down hills into oncoming traffic
And parents layered clothes until the children couldn't move
and then left them outside until their noses were blue
and I got left there, too

I put on my overcoat
And walked into winter
My teeth chattered rhythms
And they were grouped in twos or threes
Like a Morse code message was sent from me to me