Coats

 Line of bodies out in the snow

White up to the shins naked staring at each other’s pubic hair

Shivering

Holding overcoats tailored for another torso

Temptation to dress oneself in the ill-fitting garment

Witnessing the frosted breath exit in cycles

Feet brave the surface of the compacted powder

Circle staring into the circumference and curvatures of the vessels

Cloth for a complementary fitting

Testing symmetry as the fabric extends over arms, hips, to ankles

Knowing one cannot offer if one does not receive

Hands get possessive like a stock market

Realizing some coats fit so many bodies

The wanting swarm holding return wares with smiles

Rounding goose bumps in the winter frost

Others stare at the torn fabric and haggard strands, oblong widths

The resignation, the understanding registers

Peering out after so many inquiries declined

The coat is better put on one’s body

Slid on part of an arm, not stretching the waist

Part of the cold kept

Blankly watching the trades

Heaviness in the chest, burning, slumping

The snow consumes a fortress, naked and honest