Muffled

She remembers feeling whole

inside the strange wool coat

with a fuzzy muffler and warm hood.

The way the night looked blue,

the way the snow sparkled 

just as it settled on the road. 

It may have been a forced march

through childhood 

but she always knew 

her body was not her own to keep

and what lay beneath

was something without a name

that would always be hers,

in a place with green and florals

and lots of birds on the wing.