Coldest nights have wrapped around my legs so bare

lifted up the quilted covers, but no-you were not there

I dream before locking the doors and feeding my girl cat

of how I carry you in bits of blue inside my old plaid hat

yes, a tiny piece of plaid it is, in this heart shaped locket gold

and I keep it around my neck or in my deepest pocket hold

oh, so snug, it lies between my breasts, to both rise and fall

for those sad times when you are faraway and I cannot recall

when I cannot recall the way your lips feel upon mine very own

or seeing those places on your body, revealed by you alone

your voice though distant, nearer still- within my very soul

longing patters with mouse-like feet, in our story oft retold

I will use this now to mark the dates I imagine your homeland

and dream that we are cuddling there, upon that northern sand

while the sea and its air weave throughout, our spirit’s very bones

to color over our true love’s emergence, in nature’s vivid tones

ah, but bed calls me now, and in these sweet dreams we meet

and as your hand is holding mine, we embrace beneath the sheet

tho’ wintry breezes blow and snow gathers on the outside stairs

alone I do sleep, yet rest well, with the knowledge that you care