the duplicity of tomorrow

mary alter | Spring 2021

Tomorrow’s never certain
That’s what they always say.
Why do I feel so hurt, then
If it lasts only for today?

The snow melts my skin, I’m freezing
The trees look on and laugh
As I stand waiting for the season
To unstick me from this path. 

An owl lands above me
“Who?” It has to ask
I cannot seem to get free
From the self they want to unmask. 

I close my eyes and breathe in
The smoke from the baffled fire
That my brain keeps lighting again
Even when it starts to tire. 

I see the daylight dancing
Across the snow-capped peaks
And though the forest keeps advancing
For once its current feels weak. 

There will be another moment
Where I won’t know how to stay
But for now my feet are frozen
Because they were made this way. 

I think tomorrow’s certain
From a whisper through the wind
Of a turning earthbound burden
Not allowed to spark the end.