I’ve learned to breathe in winter
To let the frost settle where warmth once lived
There’s a discipline to it
A stillness
A silence
A way of not flinching
When the world forgets to be gentle
My heart didn’t start this way
It thawed
It burned
It tried
But fire gets tired
When it’s the only thing glowing
In a room full of shadows
So now I move like a glacier
Slow
Deliberate
Unbothered
By the storms that used to shake me
I don’t shatter anymore
I crystallize
If you touch me
You’ll feel the truth of it
Not cruelty
Not malice
Just the clean
Bright honesty
Of someone who finally learned
To stop melting for people
Who never stayed long enough
To feel the warmth
Call it distance
Call it armor
Call it survival
Either way
I’ve grown comfortable
Being cold as ice