The Man in My Mind

I wake up within myself,
Shivering in the folds of my sheets and mind,
And I peek out the window
Covered in shattered water.
A breath falls on it,
Leaving a moment's memory.
Yet it fades.
Outside looks like heaven.

I walk the house to find
Mother and sister aren't home.
Not even the dog is here.
Inch toward the front door,
And it creaks open.
It's so bright here;
More than just the ground glows white.
Birds chirp, but they're faint.

Ten o' clock is a figure.
Three sections.
It's all I see in the close distance
Of my own front yard.
I trudge barefoot to the familiar shape,
But the powder does not cool my feet.

Snowflakes
-Tiny slivers of yesteryear-
Rest gently on clothes and hair.
Visible in this world,
They were always here.
They've never left me,
Nor I them.
Some land on my face
And they melt,
Turning to drops of longing
As they stream slowly down.
Tears both happy and sad.

I look upon the figure before me:
Tall,
Capped,
Buttoned.
A silly businessman of my own creation.
If he could lick his own nose,
He might get the urge to eat it.
Instead he simply stares into space.

I remove his cap
And replace the head underneath it with my own.
A sobbed laugh escapes me as memories flood back,
And the sound is visible.
In the form of snowflakes
The audible emotion attaches itself to the figure,
Reinforcing the man and the memory.

Tears of my own now fall from my eyes
As I realize what's happening.
They too turn to tiny shards,
Floating through the air,
And packing themselves into my creation;
My friend.
All these years
And he remains standing tall
Like he's still brand new.

It all makes sense.

Every expression of love I show
Turns to snow in the world of my mind,
Keeping his memory alive,
Reminding me of my own innocence.
The simple love of a child.
I didn't care that he wasn't alive.
I loved him all the same.

This snowman may have melted one warm winter day,
But he remains real in my memory.
No one we love ever truly dies.
They live eternally within ourselves;
Sometimes memories are all we have.

I wrap my arms around the snowman
-Embracing him warmly-
Then proceed back inside.
Joyful tears flow with each step,
Floating back,
And adding themselves to the memory
Of a friend both gone and not.