A cloud drifted across the sun for a second, 
shifting the summer’s light in the room

to melancholy winter’s when the sun meanders 
just above the treeline,

a reminder that days grow shorter,
gain momentum toward an unspoken ultimatum

between all this: gestures to empty room
(filled with books and a computer on a desk with a chair)

and companionship found not in this house
for colder days bathed in muted light.