It is spring and the ice is melting;
fox wants to cross a lake.
Fire and water separate then 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,
a completion has commenced.
It is spring and the ice is melting;
young fox wants to cross a lake.
Fire and water unite then separate.
His ears are busy with his heart,
so he does not hear the ice begin to break through.
His tail plunges, he falls through and freezes;
another life reduced to some dream unrecalled.
And as time stands still inside the changing wind,
a completion has commenced.
Paterson, 1981