Muck-gray and silence outside,
sleet sheets washing down concrete
places we stood in time to street corner
symphonies now quiet.

You took the water, filled plastic
cups and spun to catch light
in tangles of hair (falling frames
around half-moon smile).

I took your hand and
pressed to cheek, feeling
a world’s wonder warmth beneath
old, battered visage.

The day beyond, stretched out
as lazing animals in separation
again, we were dreaming
of bleached flowers

And the spring dawn.

Carter Vance is a writer and poet originally from Cobourg, Ontario, Canada currently resident in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. His work has appeared in such publications as The Smart Set, Contemporary Verse 2 and A Midwestern Review, amongst others. He was previously a Harrison Middleton University Ideas Fellow. His latest collection of poems, Places to Be, is currently available from Moonstone Arts Press.