The ground was frozen except where we walked,
grey puddles with hidden depths.
Impractical shoes slid through mud
that seeped between rubber and canvas.
We tried to cross a field,
got halfway before it deceived us;
our feet drowned on the last step.
We ducked under a bridge to rest
by a path that fled from us back to town.
You sat higher on the steep wall;
its stones were cold or damp; we couldn’t tell.
The canal was uneasy where the wind hit it;
tentative ripples that grazed the sides.
I wanted to be too close to see you.
Joggers struggled past, we shushed our silence.
A splash broke the surface of the water
waves swelled to crests and retreated.
I shuffled against the chill beside you;
if the wall was icy you would slide down,
to warm the January morning.
