Warmth

My nights have been so cold for so long. Not just literally I haven't been feeling so brotherly in a long time. The distance, the bitter cold It's something I've grown accustomed to For better or worse Tonight, I feel something faintly familiar Though it's a largely foreign sensation I feel... warmth

It's unbearable at first It's suffocating, and I can't seem to get cool enough So I try to distance myself until suddenly I find myself in the cold again. Ah yes... the intense, unflinching, unrelenting cold I should be comfortable again, right? But now... I find myself yearning for the warmth's presence.

I spent all this time trying to get away When I'm finally free from the warmth, I'm not happy Why? Why couldn't I learn to appreciate the warmth? Things will be different now, right? No

Several times over, I've tried to sneak a tiny ember But I keep finding calderas that burn out if I try to sneak a single ember The infernos of passion, the fires of friendship The calderas of trust They all burn me when I wander too close Yet now, I can't live without their presence

The frigid tundras I've resided in for so long They've kept me warm too if I bury myself deep in the snow But now I want to wander in the open And not succumb to frostbite or hypothermia The problem is that the alternative isn't much better

If I stay in the tundra, I inevitably freeze to death If I stay by the caldera, I inevitably burn to death Finding a balance seems impossible Solitude isn't the answer, but neither is companionship I'm tempted to give up hope, but there's a silver lining

A hand reaches out to me in the cold darkness A warm hand, but not burning A hand that's cool, but not frigid I reach out to grab it and they lift me up Suddenly, I'm overcome by light This shining radiance is comforting as it overtakes me When it's no longer blinding, I find myself shocked by what I found

I'm no longer stuck drifting between tundra and caldera I'm in a peaceful meadow surrounded by flowers and grassland The warmth of the sun and the cold of the moon are gentle The life around me isn't burning or freezing to death There's nothing for me to bury myself under Nor is there anything here that would raze my flesh Instead, I'm free to wander as I please.

Eventually, I find a settlement on the horizon Its people are jovial, their faces kind There's a deep-seated fear of mine that these steppes Will morph into another tundra or another caldera But for now, I'm at peace as I finally have a place to call home