Poems, again [2 of them!]

Metal Gear Solid 2 Demo

So recently I've come back into the swing of trying out poetry, mostly just while I'm killing time between classes. Would love some criticism to see where I stand.

First poem I tried to go for some competing imagery, while the second is more of a free write

Winter Wind

Spoiler:

It's not summer again.
The drifts flow over the fields,
And the ice cracks beneath each step.
Against the chill you shudder,
And through blue lips mutter,
“I don't think I've ever felt so cold.”

All the joy is gone from your walk,
The starless nights are long and harsh,
The streets are sprinkled white with lies,
And no protection seems to keep in
That seeping warmth you took for granted.

She spares no more soft glances,
And even on a good day seems frozen still,
Alone you find yourself on some street corner,
Thinking back on her once warm ways,
And to that howling wind you say something like,
“I don't think I've ever felt so cold.”

A Depth to Silence

Spoiler:

There's something to be said of silence.
The tangible thing that it is.
A nothing filled with so much;
We barely notice its beauty.

We do so much with silence.
We break and shatter it,
Remain in it for respect or by force,
And have an awkward one every so often.

There are majorities that speak it,
Victims who suffer in it,
Protagonists who are defined by it,
And those who fear when there's too much.

Silence is the emptiness,
It is the judgment,
But it is also the consoling,
And the space before laughter.

It is found in the firm embrace of old friends,
And in the secret language of new lovers,
In the prayers of ancient cathedrals,
And in the academic halls of thought.

To know silence is to know the world,
Every corner of its vast expanse,
All its secret rooms and open spaces,
And too the very essence in which it exists.