Cold Blooded
This is the cold that chews on your bones
This is a cold that is spiteful
This is the cold that won’t leave you alone
Til’ you’re buried where it deems rightful
I am a man who will even the score
I am the man who will end him
I am a man who will take no more
To melt in hell is where I will send him
Bartholomew regards me
As I enter the door he stares
His eyes stay locked upon me
I pretend like he’s not there
I unbundle and unlayer
As the fire lights the place
Bart stands to be a sayer
“What’s that look upon your face?”
“Nothing. Just went for supplies”
He stands frozen in his spot
I’m frozen too but I move with his eyes
And start to unpack the lot:
Some rope, a dagger, a sturdy ax
A long piece of jagged steel
Some matches, some rum, a nice shiny gun
The last one I slowly reveal
“What’s got into your head, man?”
He carefully paces back
“I hope you don’t have the wrong plan.”
“I swear there’s no need to attack.”
I shake my head and I chuckle
To think this was meant for old Bart
As his knees began to buckle
I speak to restart his heart
“Calm down. You have nothing to fear.”
“Have you ever known me as a hinter?”
“I’ll tell you my aims, directly and clear.”
“I’m on a mission… to murder winter.”
“Why-why that-that’s absur…”
He stutters, then quickly halts
He wiggles his fingers to find a word
Like a man turning knobs on a vault
“You think that he’s not real?” I ask
He nervously nods his head
“Well, for sure by the end of my task”
“’He will be really quite dead”
I gather up my bundle
I saunter up to my room
Over my shoulder, I mumble
“I’ll leave before the moon”
I dream for a little while
Of sunshine and summer dresses
Only there in that space can I smile
Remembering long lost caresses
I awake with a draft and a start
I start to suit up and build ire
I warm from the beat of my heart
As my pulse rises higher and higher
I really should set a pace
For there’s a long journey to go
But til I see him face to face
My soul won’t allow me to slow
Downstairs, my roommate waits
Red-eyed but alert and awakened
He sits with a couple of plates
With some eggs and the last of the bacon
“You’ll notice, I swept” he says with a grin
“You won’t have to tell me again”
“And I got some more firewood for the bin”
“So, you won’t have to, my friend”
“Thanks” I say as I walk by the table
“I’ll stay hungry, it’s better that way”
“I’m off to the north, and if I’m able”
“I’ll be back by the end of the day”
He runs his hands together
Not sure if he should feel relief
I walk towards the door and the weather
And my mission, my fate, my belief
“Why to the North?” he sputters
I turn just enough to reply
“That where he sends the wind from”
“So, that’s where he lives and shall die”
In an instant, I face the old man’s icy blow
Pushing against my advance
‘Get out those last breaths’ I tell my foe
While you still have the chance
Each step is submerged in slush and frost
And must be removed with force
For each one, I’ll make him repay the cost
When I reach the end of my course
My mind is warmed by thoughts
Of golden simmering skin
My stride it wavers not
One second from the time I begin
I’ll trudge up hills and down them
I push on through the trees
And the snow that’s all around them
I’m soaked above my knees
The slice of the wind reminds me
Of every ache and scar
When I focus on them I find the
Path ahead seems far less far
The weight of the pack on my back
Seems not a burden but a joy
Filled with wonderful ways to attack
And beautiful tools to destroy
My vigor fuels my stride
My pace quickens with my mind
I’ll rush until I’m inside
And once there I can take my time
I glimpse on the horizon
The tidy puffs of smoke
That from the home of my prize come
Like a dragon’s breathy croak
Like a glutton, he’s basking there
Protected from his work
There blissfully unaware
That outside comeuppance lurks
He took her from me
I quicken my pace
‘You took her from me’
I’ll say to his face
Each step faster
The house grows in size
Like each day past her
Brought tears to my eyes
I’m lunging and grunting
And striving with glee
For years I’ve been wanting
What’s rushing at me
And there I stand panting
At the wretched man’s awning
My inner voice ranting
But my outer self… calming
I’ll play nice at first
I’ll be polite of course
I want to build to my worst
And surprise him with my force
I breathe and catch my sense
And then I gently knock
I hear footsteps and then silence
And then the twist of a lock
The man greets me with a smile
Looking wickedly benign
Plain in body face and style
The clever mask he hides behind
“Howdy, friend what’s your angle?”
He emits smarmy bile
I suppress urge to strangle
At least for a while
“I need some information”
“I was hoping you might provide”
“Do you have time for conversation?”
“And do you mind if I come inside?”
He squints at me in a curious way
Then swings the door wide open
“Well, from the time I got up today”
“For a good talk I’ve been hopin’!”
Like a clown, he stands there grinning
But from deep down his evil glows
Through his beard and his hair both thinning
And starkly both white as the snow
“Sit down, friend!” He waves at a chair.
As I pace and survey the room
‘If you call me friend one more time, I swear…’
I think but don’t say. It’s too soon
“I’m fine.” I say “I’d rather stand”
He’s in the kitchen pouring a drink
“Nonsense, friend. Sit down, man”
“It’ll give you a chance to think”
“What do you mean, old man?” I say
“I can think just fine on my feet?”
I bite my lip to push the rage away
Delayed satisfaction’s more sweet
“I mean” He says returning
With a couple of cups of warm ale
“Your mind is clearly turning”
“Your skin is cold and pale”
“You want a conversation, yes?”
“Well, gather your thoughts firstly”
“Put the pack down and take a rest”
“And don’t pretend you’re not thirsty”
I eye the steam from the cup
Perhaps, I should indulge
Before this man gives his life up
Some secrets he might divulge
I place my pack next to his couch
I’ll choose my own seat, friend
I take a cigar from the pouch
That I had planned to save for the end
“Do you smoke?” I ask. His face lights up
“Why, yes, I do quite often!”
I exchange the cigar for the cup
I will prove that my rage won’t soften
I’ll drink with this fiend for sure
I’ll act in a neighborly way
So the end result can be pure
There will be no doubt on this day
We sit and sip and smoke
We enjoy his fire together
Small talk warms the way for a joke
I’ve set up to tell bout the weather
“What’s the one thing in life…”
I ask as an offhand remark
“That’s better than kids and a wife…”
“To warm a man’s heart that’s grown dark?”
“Huh, I don’t know friend… What is it?”
He laughs and waves my cigar
“Well, as we’re nearing the end of this visit”
I say “I’ll tell you that I’ve come quite far”
I reach for my pack to unzip it
But when I shift the room starts to go
I feel flushed from my head to my digits
J lean back so the spinning will slow
“Are you ok, friend?” The old man says standing
I can make out that much but not more
“It’s a shame… that what you’ve been planning…”
“Was so obvious at my door”
“You think you’re the first one to try?”
He’s blurry but his voice is strong
“You won’t be the first one to die”
“Or the last one before very long”
“I love to watch the light disappear”
“From the eyes of those who would beat me”
“How does it feel rushing from hope to fear”
“To know that you’ll die not defeat me?”
I’m lifted by the air itself
It grabs me like a giant vice
I can feel my ribs crack inside myself
As it tightens and shakes me twice
“Answer me, friend!” He yells from below
“Are you no longer proud?”
Tighter and tighter, as the voice seems to grow
Surrounding me, vibrating loud
“I kill so many but I always love this”
“It’s more fun with a personal touch”
“When warmth comes on, the main thing I miss”
“Is cold blood, man, I love it so much”
My cheek cracks against a jagged rock wall
I drop hard, crumpled, down by the fire
I’m glad for the warmth and the pain from the fall
I wish that he’d thrown me higher
I wish to feel pain as it ends
I wish to feel something profound
My vision’s gone black and it lends
No help as I crawl on the ground
Finally, that voice again
It’s in a normal tone
“Finish your joke, my friend”
“And then I’ll send you home”
“I want to know why…” I struggle to stand
“I want to know why you took her away”
He laughs “Takes a fool to make demands”
“On his execution day”
“Is this really about a girl?” He smirks
“Are you really that much a cliché?”
“Is it too much, my friend, for just one of you jerks”
“To come in an original way?”
“I kill things, it’s what I do”
“I’ve never been less than consistent”
“Yet you think that I won’t kill you”
“Even right now, you resist it”
“Do you think I wasn’t watching?”
“Do you think I didn’t know?”
“Do you think I wasn’t toying with you”
“From the moment you stepped in my snow”
“It’s so funny, when you people try”
“To be happy amidst my pain”
“I send cold wind to make you cry”
“And then I spit snow and icy rain”
“You sled and ski upon it”
“As some of you skid to your deaths”
“When I feel there’s too many of you on it”
“I send a blizzard with one deep breath”
“I kill you for fun. I’m evil, that’s why”
“What’s so hard to understand?”
“Your girl was too smart to die”
“So, she left and went west, my man”
“Anyone who gets out, hey”
“They’re just trying to advance”
“As opposed to you with your vengeful ways”
“Without a snowball’s chance…”
I finally catch my bearing
And stand before the voice
Into the darkness staring
I offer up a choice
“You can kill me either way”
“But first give me one guess”
“As to what makes your heart colder”
“If I’m right, just answer, ‘yes’”
“If you’re right, you live. If not, you die”
“Be careful what you choose”
“Just for the sport of it” He sighs
“One word you get to use”
“Spring” I say, without a pause
And there’s white against my eyes
I lift my face from the icy frost
I rejoice in the chill on my thighs
I roll to face the sky above me
The sun beams down a kiss
Somewhere, someone loves me
Enough to grant me this
I sit up, I stand, my pack is gone
Winter’s house is gone as well
My energy’s back and before long
I’ll be home with a story to tell
I won’t tell it to Bart though
And I won’t tell anyone here
I will sharpen my tale as I go
Until I reach my long lost, dear
Soon, I know I will find her
Soon, the world will glow
In a land that’s warm and pure
That’s I’ve never been blessed to know
…..
…..
…..
…..
This is a place that eats at your soul
This is a place that is spiteful
This is a place that leaves you alone
And denies your work what is rightful
California is a teasing place
It offers much more than it gives you
Its lies always come from a beautiful face
Which hugs you quite close and then shiv’s you
My screenplay couldn’t be better
It’s an epic love story, indeed
Yet per every rejection letter
It’s one that no one has bothered to read
I sit and I sip my iced tea
(passion fruit and quite delicious)
Wondering who will ever know but me
Why winter is always so vicious
The warmth caresses my face
It reminds me whenever I’m near it
Why I’ll never leave this place
However cold it may be in spirit
My woman I’ve never found
Instead, I’ve had to make due
With beautiful weather year round
And I know that our love is true
I am a man who is grateful
To realize as I’m finally home
That winter is evil and hateful
Because summer left him alone
So should we.