On Thin Ice

The water wasn’t moving so the lights
At night stood still, and so I also stood,
To still what moved in me.
The icy night
Came round me tight to whisper what she could
Of hard-packed glaciers far from here–  
Then back
A sudden step!
Lest in her trance, I tread
Upon the gleams that seemed a solid track,
So plunge below the fragile lies she said.

Instead,
I stood and breathed the crackling air.
I felt the warmth inside my lungs and praised
The Making One who made such contrasts there.
It was my mammal blood that brightly blazed
To save me and to show what might have passed,
Still letting there be light where darkness lasts. 

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You can listen to me read it here https://on.soundcloud.com/uf3mtjgEymjp4Iulc9