The tiny train station
a beacon in the
mounds of snow and
then the cab ride through
the somnolent town,
colorful Victorian homes
contrasting the white,
the gold-domed capital
glowing like a nimbus,
guiding the way up the hill
to the college, where we’d
analyze characters like
our own flesh and blood,
all of us crowded together,
breathing the same air,
our hearts beating faster,
energy flowing so fervently,
that one needed to pause,
and I’d retreat back down,
to the health store where
I’d sit by a window overlooking
the frozen river, and drink
herbal tea, watching the
churn of water under
the ice, knowing that
soon it would all be a
rush, and that this
would be a
moment.