the cold air

I hold up a mirror

and you cannot recognize 

your own reflection

I gaze into the water

and you are shimmering

just below the surface 

What you cannot recognize 

and what I am able to see

are invisibly linked

and I have no words

to describe this to you

so my silence 

pierces the cold air

and lands somewhere

only to be covered by snow

or leaves or a new mask

to be worn in the company 

of the rest of the world, the people

that hold your gaze and see nothing

but your dark eyes

and I wonder how they 

can miss the glowing from inside

you

just flames and 

smoldering embers

and then flames

and then 

dead quiet.