What We Need

We are sun-baked in the sand, hand
in gritty hand, when you ask me,
“What’s your favorite season?”
Expect me to say—Here.

Now. No moment could be better
than this secret summer, with you
my lover. (It took us nine hours
to drive here). Instead, I speak
truth: “It’s winter.” Tell you,

“It’s not this postcard picture
I crave.” I don’t trust heat
that makes sleep uneasy, or words
spoken beneath Florida’s
delirious skies. What we need

is north of here. A season to chill
the bones, to make breath
visible. A time
when promises take shape
in the form of steam.

Photo Credit: Thomas James Caldwell Flickr via Compfight cc

Paula R. Hilton

Paula R. Hilton explores the immediacy of memory and how our most important relationships define us. Her work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and has appeared in The Feminine Collective, The Sunlight Press, Writing In A Woman’s Voice, Dear Damsels, The Tulane Review, and elsewhere. Her novel, Little Miss Chaos, was selected as a Best Indie Teen Read by Kirkus, and her first poetry collection, At Any Given Second, received a Kirkus star. She holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans.

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Paula R. Hilton explores the immediacy of memory and how our most important relationships define us. Her work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and has appeared in The Feminine Collective, The Sunlight Press, Writing In A Woman’s Voice, Dear Damsels, The Tulane Review, and elsewhere. Her novel, Little Miss Chaos, was selected as a Best Indie Teen Read by Kirkus, and her first poetry collection, At Any Given Second, received a Kirkus star. She holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans.

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