Frozen Cheers

A bar packed tight,

fogged breath and laughter

spilled over the low tables.

I held a glass,

frosted with cold sweat,

fingers clutching as voices rose

around me, sharp and blurred.

A game where words tripped

and tumbled over each other,

no one paused to catch mine.

The noise pressed thick,

a tide I couldn’t swim through.

I laughed but it cracked,

a cracked laugh, empty,

like shouting beneath waves.

Outside, the air was cleaner—

a quiet I could almost hear.