—a day when the cold gets bold, and anything you forget outside becomes a small monument to your own distraction.

You find it on the railing,
a circle of frost around its base,
the coffee stilled into a dark,
unyielding sheet of glass.

It holds your fingerprint in ice,
a fossil of a warmer thought.
The steam you meant to savor once
escaped before you even fought.

Snow gathers in the cooling rings,
as if to finish what you started.
The wind sighs through the handle’s curl,
a whistle for the broken hearted.

You lift the cup. It doesn’t budge.
The cold has claimed it clean and whole.
A quiet punishment for haste,
for letting warmth outrun the soul.

Inside, another coffee brews,
you watch the steam rise, soft and bold.
This time you hold it close enough
to not leave it
to the cold.

📜 A Mug Left Out in the Cold – The Recipe

Ingredients:

Instructions:
Step outside before the sun softens the edges. Retrieve the mug as if it might shatter from memory alone. Tap the ice gently and listen for the echo. Brew a fresh cup indoors, and keep it near. What freezes teaches you what not to leave behind.