I made cold brew and thought of you.  Then thought of the cold that crept into my heart on the drive last night, as tears and yells took over where silent hand-holding usually rides.  Like fake medicine, the cold lies & says it will steel away hurt or offense. A placebo protector it brings its own side-effects far worse than the wounds of a friend.   Prideful indifference masquerades as self-justification. A wolf wearing wool, it slinks in, hiding teeth soon to be bared.  “Never be wrong. Never fail!” is its snarling growl- not even trying now to sound like a gentle bleat.  Oh the grace of foreseeing the end of its dark path! Separate lives, separate bank accounts, separate beds? No. Of course not. “Let no man separate,” we said. Even our sinful, inner-man. The light exposes the cold darkness for what it is. The Great Shepherd always spots the wolf, and he is never allowed to stay! Without much ado he’s sent scampering.  The Shepherd then reminds me of my truest identity. The lost