Last Winter in New York

LAST WINTER IN NEW YORK

In my dream, we were on a plane with only two seats. Outside the window, the world blanketed in white, a pearly glaze of clouds and snow. Next to each other on the plane, we knew how life had turned out and mine was slightly more incomplete. We knew about the last time I came to see him under the pretense of seeing the whole group. Dinner at a hotel a couple of blocks from Central Station. The merciless wind cut into our cheeks. He had skipped dinner but showed up later outside the lobby. I saw him leaning against the wall, humming a tune, his hands deep in pockets. I saw him but did not call out to him. Too late, it was too late. A four-hour train ride, my heart cracked before all the years passed. 

I’ll come and get you,

Escape the cold, up the lift  

Warm with me – you, mine. 

Biography: Thao Vu writes from Blacksburg, Virginia. She was a graduate of Eastern Nazarene College (Quincy, MA) in Psychology, National Taiwan University (Taiwan) in Business, and is currently pursuing an MFA at Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) in Creative Writing.

Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/a-train-traveling-down-train-tracks-covered-in-snow-eITxINsbD6g) 12. 2. 2026.

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