it is spring and the ice is melting.

fox wants to cross a lake.

fire and water separate and unite.

her ears are very alive

listening for the sounds of crackling.

she is like a wheel,

a complete unit.

all senses uniting behind her journey,

nothing to fear along the way.

and as time stands still inside the wind,

the completion has commenced.

it is spring and the ice is melting.

young fox wants to cross a lake.

fire and water first unite then separate.

his ears are busy fooling with his heart

so he cannot hear the ice begin to break through.

his tail plunges as he falls through and freezes,

another life reduced to a dream unrecalled.

and over time body will join the ice in the changing wind,

the completion has commenced.

1981

Paterson