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we worked harder in the winter
when the heat was turned off
when there was no gas
when the water went cold
when Cassie’s hamster froze
when our laundry became a ball
of ice in the tub we left to thaw
we turned purple to the tips of our fingers
our toes tingled
no heat no heat
and the car wouldn’t start
and we loitered in the bars
we went to the deli
used EBT for coffee and fruit pie
sold books and CDs, change for a bus ride
earaches, and empty guts
stole socks from the local shops
groceries from the AIDS project
worked the streets
for what we could sell
the apartment was a shell
all draft and bad temper
pooling our pockets
for the heat we needed
winter went on too long
for slow-circulating ectomorphs
with aggressive appetites
and the radiator shivered
beneath the bluster window
mocking the work we did
snapping twig by twig
slumped on the kitchen floor
in front of the open oven door
—“Thief River Falls” by Abigail Frankfurt, published in Capsule Stories Winter 2022 Edition: Hibernation. Featuring poetry and prose, Capsule Stories Winter 2022 Edition explores the theme Hibernation. These stories and poems ruminate on hunkering down for the winter and resting.
Grab your paperback or ebook copy: capsulestories.com/winter-2022-edition #capsulestories #abigailfrankfurt