before :: after

passing people in transit,
the sensation is different with each person.
sometimes it's no sensation at all
either because it's a stranger
or because there's too much feeling
that it would stop
if you let it surface.

this winter, hanging off the tree branches, the crackling ice frosting on brick walkways,
white salt-stained paths

it takes rain to wash away these months of quiet residue.

we'll get rain in april.