Frozen Walk

A placid lake was the perfect place

to whisper without words.

Frozen over in December

it ceased to move on the surface

still, it flowed beneath glassy bounds.

/

The fish lingered in the water

muffled as they were, by the barrier above.

Eyes cast downward as we ventured

the perilous edge, sliding silently

along the ice that would relent with brighter sun.

/

We knew the fish were there;

they had nowhere else to go.

So must our thoughts

swim as silently as shadows

just under our feet.

/

The barrier between us would melt

with time and warmer weather.

We would move in lapping waves

and peek out into the air.

We would talk once again

to the birds and the trees and each other

in time.

We just needed time.

/

For now we walked together as we always did

steadying each other on the ice so precarious,

promising to hold each other

should one of us slip.

/

You reached for my hand,

guiding me over uneven ground

and I held on long after

traction cleaved us to the earth.

Our connection meant we fell into step,

four feet moving with the sound of just two,

our strides tapping a rhythm with each crunch in the snow.

The trail marked behind us together

with the prints of foxes and hares

now hiding away in the brush.

/

We didn't need words,

not this day.

We needed the knowledge

that the ice would melt

and the warm weather would be here soon.

***

Thanks for reading!

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