The One You Never Want but Always Need

Love your description of winter, DM!

Oh, wow... how did I miss this gem! This is definitely my favorite piece that I've read from you, Dark Muse. Almost every stanza and line is perfect; from the effortless rhymes and alliterations to the evocative descriptions and metaphors. My only criticism is with this pair of lines:

"you never quite know
if she is pretty or not quite so;"

I don't like the repetition of 'quite' and I think the 'so' is the only moment in the piece where the rhyme seems too strained. The only thing I could think of would really change the meaning, something like "You never quite knew / if she was good for you" (or some variation).

Thank you!