Gabriel, Isolated

That snowy night
That same feeling
A feeling of being outside
and realizing that the feeling
is whole
Even the closest is closed off
and outside
or he is outside of it
To close yourself off is one thing
but to be closed off...
To close off means you can open
You can open the gate and stand inside it
To be closed off
Is to not have the key
not have the power
to have to be let in
The blank snowy canvass
The cold space between
The realization
that it is not yours to paint
or to warm
What a painful epiphany

Meditation on James Joyce's story The Dead