it's over coat

part i
listen, i remember the stories:
the kids scuttling up snow-spotted
hills,

barefoot,

slipping through the mud
where cold had turned to
slush.

silent,

he carried them to the hospital
where doctors trimmed
away

dead toes.

part ii
but i am cold now too
sheltered as i am in this
compress

of steel

bare legs and all
i feel sick some days
ashamed

others

shivering when behind
me hangs all that's required
to button up

and walk away