By Benjamin Grossman and Cassa Bassa
The glacial battle begins in our heads
Face pressed to the sun-pierced window pane
January snow in recession, the signs of regression
Half hidden like an iceberg in the arctic water
And where once a soft glow illuminated the surface
Only the placement of desolation remains
Reverberating silent screams
There is no one way of knowing cold
The stages are fluid and transient
Its meaning bitterly ambiguous
Yet in rare lucid moments, I see husks
An empty bed, scarred skin, chattered teeth
Spirit-numbed mind, missed meals, vacant smiles
There is no one way of knowing cold
Its symptoms appear to have no rhyme or reason
Although they move with wintry doom
From person to person increasing in aggression
Till you understand the meaning of icy
Which unbeknownst to us creeps in succession
There is no one way of knowing cold
Though maybe it’s always the same
Emotional and physical reaction
A state of feeling dangerously low
Struggling to survive between cold and colder
The very same polar opposites: Arctic and Antarctica
(This is part of a collaborative poetic effort between myself and Cassa Bassa. Make sure you check out her blog by visiting Flicker Of Thoughts. She’s always coming up with some exciting words! And often sketches, too.)