Palpitations

On a dark night, you speed through a brewing snowstorm.
My bark brown eyes nervously flick through our surroundings.
White snow falls unyieldingly from a gray sky while I budge into the back seat.

You step outside with an elegance that only I seem to see, eyes watchful.
I rummage around my oversized purse, stereotypical country music turned low.
I pull out our item with unease and
unlock the car door.

My ankles suddenly submerge in icy snow piled on solid earth
and I pull my coat on, feeling sweat appear on a high forehead.
Nervously patting down my hair, I feel fuzzy and unkempt.

You suddenly move close, body tense and edgy.
I can see the white in your face and how you lick full lips.

Anxiety racks you.

I offer it to you, placing it in a shaking hand.
Sparks in your eyes imitate the excitement in mine.

You strike the red-tipped match and throw it in a pile of dead branches.
My heart beats with fervor as the lifeless vegetation around it catch fire.

Stuck in a trance, you take my frosty hand and pull me in the car,
so fast the flames are an orange blur.
With a kiss deeper than the roots of the oldest burning tree we race off,
an inferno covering our tracks and adrenaline lacing our hearts.