don't dissipate.

the cold pricks at skin the way the
stars poke holes into the inky tapestry that
drapes across Hanover--uninterrupted by
fluorescent city lights, a dark that is sometimes
peaceful and sometimes
terrifying in its isolation.

shiver, because that's the body's
way of keeping warm--careful, not too
violently because too much vibration may cause
dissipation and then little particles of your being
will drift away with the snowflakes

entering into warmth is a precarious decision because
the heat is sometimes strong enough to push you
backwards, back into the familiar cold
because sometimes, its easier for particles to fall apart

i need you to pull me in through the door.
don't forget to harness all the little
bits and pieces that try to fly away

and if you apply enough pressure to my parasympathetic nervous system,
my excited neurons will calm down and maybe

i'll stop trying to escape