the snows held the lands
safely under her warmth
and i saw you
across the river
     bright and seamless
your feet effortless
above the snowdunes
waiting for the landscape
  to rise with you

the trees bent over me
guarding their secrets
   in their ageless gentle hands
guiding me to where
         the centers of storms
  took respite
from their passions
             and there
was where i saw
the spine of the earth
jutting from the white crystal sea
towering delicately
       and hushed
    over all who loved her

                  below
the wolves came
as blackened comets
through white space
         rising and falling
   in hot feral waves
    to this center
                       flying now
on wakening storms
leaving me alone
to return to their lovers
          in the sky

     and when they finally came
they circled me
    like storms of their own
              eyes burning
with hunger and wisdom
the circles widening smaller
     with each turn
as i offered my hands
for their approval
       bleeding submission
and reverence
for their eyes

whirling now
in a storm of white
and black
i turned to you
         looking at me
     from your diamond filled horizon
        i turned
   and turned again
surrounded by my brothers

         and in my own blood
     i learned to dance again