The Glass Was Cold

The Glass Was Cold

The glass was cold and streaked with rain
The droplets beading like tears of pain
Outside the air was frozen still
And in the warmth hung a bleeding chill

She searched the room for a gleam of hope
A memory or smile with which to cope
But the shadows blocked the white-washed walls
And lay reminders of her falls

She drew the curtains one by one
Choking the bottle with her thumb
Her fears were soon to be erased
With the life that she had come to hate

She sat on the bed afraid to leave
But ‘fraid of slipping through the sieve
Again, and living one new day
Only to cut her heart away

Her breath was coming in pangs of ice
She cursed the strength that wouldn’t suffice
Her feet got up and walked away
From the bottle on her jacket laid

Her eyes peered through the frozen glass
To watch the world once more to pass
The wreaths hung on the doors like ropes
Waiting to hang the wearied hopes

The Christmas lights flickered on and off
The trees stood tall and seemed to scoff
Toward the emptiness she hid inside
The blackened deaths that wouldn’t die

But down the street from the joy façade
Light went extinct ‘fore a house of God
That for years had limped with jubilee
Blessing poor, depressed, and dead to be

She paused;
For the crooked cross, under the moon alone,
Her imprisoning pain seemed to dethrone
The nails at the ends of the warped old plank
Seemed pierced for the sin in which she sank

Her face grew warm despite the doubt
Hot, stinging tears touched her open mouth
The salt was salve to the wounds within
It felt like life pinching her taught skin

And a singing sound met her tired ears
Coming from the room of the hallowed bier
The church was filled with a joyous chord
Despite the light it could not afford

But just like that warmth disappeared
Leaving her empty of the cheer
That had quickly passed; she woke from the dream
Only memories left like a soft moonbeam

But memory was fine to her anxious soul
And the cross still shone like a smoldering coal
She glanced back to creeping ghosts at the wall
She reached down, grabbed her coat, and let the bottle fall