I tell myself
survived another day
not good to pencil your life away
yet
distant car passenger
awkwardly eating cake
doesn’t fit in til
escaping you
walk liberated down busy Xmas streets
everyone’s got someone
you’re careful in invisibility
belonging to the still of night
licking fur in wrong direction
silence is your friend
when people form behind festivities
like badgers forage for scraps
you race
in the setting silver line of waking dream
belonging to those who
take their skates to frozen pond
wondering how many turns they can have
undisturbed