SCORN

Morning chill cracks open my eye lids
sprinkles some light in, laughs a little.
It's the seventh day, all that had to be has been created.
It's a dull afternoon,
winter has scourged everything of its colour
I'll try to get out of bed soon.
There's living to get back to.

My eyes resist the sun's lewd intentions and instead
sprinkle glimmers of memory across the back of my head
Light dancing in and out of cheap wine glasses
Beer caps slowly accumulating in my bag
We're energetically wasting our youth
on our shallow ideas of infinity.

And suddenly this idea of wasted whimsy
proves too much for me and I step out
wandering into the darkness of the early morning light
watching the snow sparkle and twinkle
like the stars fast racing the night.

The trees watch me stumble in the snow
unlike me impassively suffering in the cold.
They look drab without their vibrant autumn cloaks.
I stopped in the midst of them and boldly returned their stares.
I think that they were just curious, to be fair.

The most skeletal of them beckoned me closer
leaned over leaning on the wind for support
and said to me in a whisper;
"We were here before you were born.
We'll be here after you die.
We normally reside in silence
but ever so often we also laugh
at how ageless seems your folly."
I scramble away from the clearing
my cheeks stained with shame
while all around me the laughter from
the withered trees assaulted my skin
like cold snow rain.

I jerk awake again
scramble up and away from my bed
open my window in a bid to get fresh air.
I look out and beyond to the snow kissed park.
My eyes against their will, rest on
my old friends, the trees.
They weren't laughing
But I swear a particularly emaciated one
winked at me.