breaking the oldest rule by hil hoover

Am I cold, or is the world cold? 

Is this shivering last-ditch attempt 

at physical survival or 

existential dread or

the presence of something

even more monstrous than me

out there in the dark? 

I'm too tired to tell. 

So I close my eyes on 

the sight of these wild, 

wondrous woods

and whistle, just in case. 

Sometimes you just 

want to rule out 

the worst case 

(or maybe get the inevitable

over with).