how to keep living in darker days
turn on every light in your room. the bulb on the ceiling is far too dim. light the desk lamp, the bedside candle, the floor lamp, the flashlight, the fireplace. drop a match into the wastebasket. keep it burning with scraps.
draw the curtains and shut the closet doors. lock yourself in. close off the night. whatever you do, do not open a window. the moonlight isn’t worth it.
tell your friends to send you white roses. carefully deflower each bouquet and wallpaper your room with the petals, along with the shining shards of a broken mirror or vase and torn pieces of untouched letters. make it into art - tell yourself it’s art.
do not open the window or the door. you might hear knocks, worried whispers, sighs. it’s the night trying to take you back. do not let it in,
although it might seep through the vents and corners
and cracks. do not be the one to crack,
even if you feel now as light and shaky as an eggshell
or a moonbeam. it won’t take you back now. it’s gotten too cold.
even if you open the door.
even if you break the window. even if you break
do not go back.
do not
go back into the snow.
