In His Shadow, in His Bed
I found a rusty metal trash can, its sides icy to the touch.
One by one, I piled in the waterlogged, bloody contents of my box. The mementos, the dried flower, the cartridge. I lit a match.
The flame caught, hesitant at first, then leaped to life, hungry and bright. It consumed my pathetic archive, the heat a fleeting counterpoint to the deep, permanent cold that had settled inside me.
I watched, my face numb, as the seven years of fierce, unwavering, secret love I had carried for Lorenzo Valenti turned to ash and smoke, the embers dying in the relentless, indifferent snow.