​

Dust cooks

for the first time in months

as electric baseboard heater turns on,

air goes dull,

blankets become redundant.

 

Helps suffocate that new wrinkle

already beneath a special cream

pharmacist recommended

last winter,

when sales on hair dye finally mattered.

 

Double check windows,

as if locks will keep out the cold,

prevent coming snow

that reeks of hand-me-down toboggans,

lost mittens, and departing youth.

​