Dad's basement and mom's living room

Winter...always
made everything white,
you'd walk into a room,
and the white would be coming through the woodwork,
it'd be in the air, riding the heat,
creating a
cool, dull, and dry
atmosphere that made a home
that much more homey.
You'd be stuck inside...
playing with toys, or on the computer,
sitting around with the cat
or a friend
or just mom.
Winter brings people together, in from the cold,
I miss winter, or at least meaningful
ones

Familiar

Big dark city, lost on the avenue—wrapped
Between a freeway and a Venice canal,
Walked down the sidewalk;
Chitterings and chatterings, fragments
Of lives and livelihoods from behind closed
Doors,
Found a phone, three other things,
Shampoo, I think,
I don't know,
Sitting on a marred little square of grass,
Listened in on a phone conversation,
Something familiar
But only barely,
Something freshly familiar,
Not really familiar after all,
Just scary.