On A Cold Night

Putrid, like burnt ice Stale breath of winter night Rose from the freezing ground Spreading up to the trees' heights The sheet of stars over the velvet sky Dimmed and fogged by the sighing air Twinkling with half-hearted shine Hardly visible to the earthly eye The rising fumes of cold Knitted in the white tresses Of snow-decked trees Obliterated the distant outlines Of houses with a warm fire In the misty light of street lights He walked with steps wary and shy With his hands clutching the woolen warmth Inside the pockets of his new overcoat A surprise gift from a golden heart To lessen the suffering of homelessness. Nosheen Irfan © 2016 All Rights Reserved