Melt

I wanted you.

Instead, you gave me your ice cream,
Which was slushy and sweet like a ski slope in May
Where parents laugh as their children
Spiral out of control,
Puffy little triangles in a sea of white.

Where everyone smiles and yells and cries
Even though they know that a hundred speeding ski lifts
And two thousand cups of cocoa
Can’t keep winter frozen for them.

And as my spoon clinks against the glass dish,
I am thinking of shriveling snowmen and soggy pines,
Of the way my words melt when I hear your voice.

And as I watch a lone drop of hot fudge glide
Down your sweatshirt,
I know a lot more than a basket of curly fries
And a stack of dirty napkins stand between us.