THE COLD by JM                     The cold                     has started to seep in                     nothing I wear                     nothing I do                     seems to slow it.                     I still move                     stiff feet and hands                     frostbitten face                     stumbling towards what must                     be a place to warm                     (but when I get there                     it's just as cold).                     I sit,                     then lie back                     ready to give up                     and let the cold reach my heart                     and stop my blood.                     Nothing works.                     No one hears.                     Nothing gets better.                     I keep struggling to move                     and find somewhere new                     (but I'm in the middle of                     a vast frozen plain).                     I don't know if I can get up anymore.                     I'm looking hard for a reason.                     I'm trying to feel the fingers in my hand.                     Nothing in my sight lives.                     (so if I slow to a stop, does                     it really happen?)                     So hard to get up one more time.                     So hard.                     So cold.