Love is death and love is life—
alike in both, it's ever new

Please take your axe and split
my heart in two
it's already broken
one part locked in ice
in thrall to my fierce
fearless one
my gentle dead love

Another part feels the thaw
as hot blood stabs
fire into long-frozen fingers
they reach out for your
touch yet still
are clumsy with cold
fumbling and numb

This poem walks the stony edge
a cruel blizzard scours
the plateau – no shelter
there for survivors
among the frosted
hags and cloughs

But glimpsed through the mist below
a hint of safe arrival:
bright glint of sun on valley
roofs and shreds of smoke
scattered by the gale
from cottage hearths

I'm ready to jump
but fear we might both
be shattered by my fall

So split my heart and cast
it on your fire, then
watch it crackle and spit
as I'm consumed
again in love