kindred_spirits raze on a morning so cold my face was numb the instant the air hit my skin, you emerged from a sea of grey and black bodies and made one worn white running shoe your refuge. you weren't anyone i knew well enough to name. and yet you chewed walnut fragments like a child while i held them in front of your face. i unsheathed my strongest hand and stroked the back of your neck. you didn't flinch. i felt the breath move beneath your dark coat. when i tried to pivot so i could shield you from a charging sheepdog, you latched onto my wrist. you didn't want to let go. i haven't seen you since. i don't think i will again. something tells me the brief gift of our union was your last living act. there was still fire in you, but only enough to keep us warm while we stood in the glow of that gilded moment. i don't know why you chose to treat a stranger like someone you'd known all your life. such small_fragile_creatures you are. i am longer in the limbs and better able to evade capture, but no less susceptible to being broken. maybe you looked at me and saw more than just an ally. i know the feeling. 240228 what's it to you? who go blather from