CHURCH

It's nearly time to walk to church. For midnight mass. Amanda and I hold hands. The sun is going down. I see the orange on her face lighting the small bond hairs. Her eyes are crystal. Green. Her hands are small, feeling digits, pointed and regal. Each step we make dents the snow. Undisturbed in the graveyard. Last night it snowed about 4 inches, settling a blanket on my dead relatives. Warming them as they rest and rot beneath the ground.

The horses pull by. I cling to herhand. I watch her breath draw in and out exhaling blue air. The sounds of other couples making their way in. We are silent.

Her eyes are green. There may be some brown or hazel too perhaps. But they are bright. They sparkle. We head towards the yellow light of the church door. Where it is warm. Pastor has a fire going. It's cozy. Lazy. Red.

Amanda's dress is this color. I don't know if it's appropriate for mass. It's lush and like satin. Almost darker than this photo. She has a small red hat covering her hair which she has done in a bun. Her shoes black. Her purse black.

I wear solid black. My black shoes melting the snow beneath me. We crunch up the steps. Soon we will pray earnestly on the oak pews. Worn with grooves. Bleached by time. Soon we will be with our father. Soon...