In My Memory, Things Always Happen in Winter (For Taylor Deutscher)

In My Memory, Things Always Happen in Winter

For Taylor Deutscher

Dreams aren’t winter coats,
reminders of seasons that fit better,
woolen dust sponges we leave to die in a closet
and replace long before we need to.

And you can hide behind them all you want,
but I still see you, in the shadows,
all your talent spilling around the edges. 
And I remember exactly what you looked like:

confidence,
resolute and red against the wind’s bitter bite,
the cold that couldn’t tame you,
couldn’t keep you indoors.

That coat is still there,
hanging, dusty but ready

for an excuse to look good again,
a warm and sturdy purpose. 

 Timothy Tarkelly  

Timothy Tarkelly's work has been featured by Philosophical Idiot, Back Patio Press, Cauldron Anthology, From the Depths, GNU, Sludge Lit, and others. His book, Gently in Manner, Strongly in Deed: Poems on Eisenhower was published by Spartan Press in April, 2019. When he's not writing, he teaches in Southeast Kansas.