We fed on ash and water throughout

most of winter and as both were in plenty

there was no need to supplement the meal

with a dust of wire shavings or yard grit

we would leak a syrup of condensed tears

over the porridge you set out un-tasted

perhaps tame deer might

I attacked in the frozen food aisle

when we both were starving openly

you sampled a macadamia nut and laughed

abundance is a relative term

how decadent I thought and went silent

watching you pick a suitable style

of ice for dinner caused me to snap

I hauled your body home

A bundle of  February leaves in pocket

sucking them as I walked my brown

dress heavy and dark at the hems

along brambles I'd fastened you to

my old wicker chair with waxed twine

the snowball I landed on your face

boasted a truly immaculate arch

which I ate up with my approach

flashing my whittled skin through

the fog of knowing you were dead

Run your fingers along this row of bone

you'd chanted

it tickles like filling up on

the whimpered noise

of too much aching

Cardinals worked dangerously close

to where I wrapped you 

in the chilled folds of my dress 

they gorged on thistle seeds until

their beaks broke

my palm figured the shape of your knee

I crouched beside you licking snow from

the seams of your jacket and tore

bits of cloth to stop my ears with

to stop my eyes