trepidation's better

trepidation's better
brother; my old,
uncomfortable,
blue-wool
sweater:

raspy caresses,
peculiarly warm;
bareness's tremor—
deceivingly banal
more daunting than ever;
still, i slip
you on;

less dread than fear—
seam, stich
and choker,
altogether;
how soon you rear
given all the time
gone.

tell me once more,
year over year,
how are you
still—
pal?