Structural Integrity

The pipes in the wall are starting to fight,

shivering through the drywall tonight.

The apartment feels thin, a hollowed-out tooth,

facing the wind and its bitter-cold truth.

I took the short way, over the ditch,

where the mud is a frozen, black-hearted pitch.

My boot hit the center and the world gave a crack,

sending white veins through the frozen black.

Under my heel, a sharp, snapping sound,

like a secret that's finally being found.