Temperature Standoff

She raised it two degrees —

a digital blink of cold blue

cut through the quiet room,

heater humming against my skin.

I reached down, fingers trembling,

turned it back low —

a silent fight in the humming air,

cold war in numbers, stilled breath.

The thermostat pulses like a stubborn heart,

beat ticking in icy spikes,

our breaths clouding like smoke,

warmth wrestled from thin circuits.

Two degrees is more than air;

it’s distance in a shared space,

a battle waged in flickering light,

silent, small, and stubborn.