Page 1 of 1
Winter Don't Soften Much

by Sam McAlister
Chapter 2
I came down off the hills in a hard white fall
Been chasing the road most the year
Snow packed the tires. Wind bit my face.
Didn’t plan on stopping here

Town lights flickered like they knew my name
so I pulled off just to see
There was heat inside and a sound in the garden lounge
that felt like it was meant for me

She was standing up front with the band playing low
singing steady and true
Best voice I’d heard since I left that spring
or maybe the last year or two

They say winter out here don’t soften much
just holds you tight till you break
But the way she sang made the cold feel gone
like warmth was a choice you could make

I knocked the snow from my boots and smiled
like nothing could go wrong
Stepped closer when the chorus came back
let the night carry me along

We turned on the floor where the lights stayed dim
where the jukebox forgot the time
Didn’t ask whose place I was standing in
didn’t notice the watching eyes

They say winter out here keeps track of things
even when you don’t
I heard a chair move sharp behind me
felt the room go still but I don’t know why

I didn’t hear a warning or feel the blade
just the night finishing fast
Turns out some rooms remember longer
than a man remembers his past

So if you hear a song cut clean through the cold
and it sounds like it knows you well
Mind where you stand when the music starts
Some places don’t need you to tell