I felt a blush rush up

and my fingers curled around my bottle

the soda level raising by degrees

And nearing the brim before I could put it aside

My palms wet

and slickening;

The cold emanating from the thin window pane-

tendrils raising chilled bumps cross my neck

Shoulders Collarbone

Wrapping round my arms

like Sheba's bejeweled armlets-

feels for them

but unable to ice the heat they find there;

Reactive my neck tightens into a pleasant knot

of the laces that run up my spine

corsetting this into my body

and causing my back to conform

to the tightening arch

of their guide;

A drumming started in my neck

carotid artery dancing to the rhythm

of my heart beat as I inhale through my nose

the chill of empty air

and loneliness.

And because the cause is absent

(not lending warmth

or shielding the chill)

I write.