they strap themselves to my back
a bundle of sticks clattering
carry me
through the snow
make fire

i arrange them in arbitrary splendor
new notes ignite
in a cool room
where all was once
pleasant discordance

calling to describe
the peeling bark the
severed dark intersections
of music and former voice
separate minor melodies finding
their way

sadness as
adding nothing
the weight increases until

a refrain of your eyes
listens for verse
resolves the suspended chord

twigs fall
between

we duet

these first notes of a slow song
crackle wild and warm
in a new winter

our unfinished harmonies
sparkle and sing
through the mute chill
of the flue