Frozen/Thawed

Tears

remain,

covering the whites 

of my eyes,

turning them a pale

shade of blue

to match the blue

of my soul

blue like the color

of porcelain

before

it's fired

bleu like the veins
of cheese

we had with dinner

last night

blue like the veins

that criss cross my hands

like spider webs

and rise like the

bas relief on a plate

from Greece

Frozen tears.

Why?

Because I can't cry.

I don't want to go back there,

back, back, back

in time.

And besides,

I've already cried.

Already done that.

Now,

to breathe,

to move,

to feel

alive,

not vacant,

like the smoked over windows

of the closed K-Mart

that used to be in town,
or the Belk store
that's been long gone,

This town that has said good-bye

to many things.

Sprint

Black and Decker

and others,

re-located

down to Mexico,

and warmer climes,

leaving this place

vacant

and 

lost.

Like the lot

at the movie theater

where nobody goes anymore.

Vacant like the houses down town

with For Sale signs in the yards.

Vacant like the church

on a Sunday morning.

Where have they gone?

Gone to graveyards, everyone.

Tonight, the town is frozen,

Except for the candles
on my little

buffet and the song that says "lighten,"

and the glow in my heart

that I notice up when I remember

a new life,

a birth.

A baby to be born

in July.

New life.

New love.

New breath.

Soon.

A son.

Or a daughter.

Soon.