Set among bus stops, intersections and glowing traffic lights, this poem is about loneliness in a crowded city and the ache of losing someone. It opens with "let her go" and a worry about not belonging, or not being remembered. The speaker watches strangers pass, including a couple holding hands and a man whose smile seems to hide his story. When the light leaves his eyes, the speaker wonders if it was only the city lights, so even what people feel is hard to read.
Later the poem turns to winter. The speaker begs it not to return, yet admits it is "the warmest with him," which suggests a past love that made the cold bearable. Now he is far away, and the poem shifts to "you," as if the speaker is talking to someone grieving. The mood is wistful and quiet, with a bitter edge. The final lines, "he can still dream, / so why can't you?", read like a gentle push to hope again.