His island towers over the others,

The furthest west and north.

Cold winds blasted the trees away

Eons ago. Stones worn smooth,

The tundra greets the morning sun

And weeps as the sun sets.

He is joyful in the cold,

Shielding others with his massiveness.

Her island warms first to the Eastern sunrise.

Trees reach for the sky with their limbs

Upraised in praise of warmth, of life.

Berry bushes dot the meadows, bears wander

Near the river where salmon slip silently

Upstream. The bears are patient.

She is patient too, sheltered from cold

As he takes the brunt of new storms.

Earthquakes shiver, ice falls.

Waves crash against the shorelines.

Land recedes, water endures.

Dive into the sea to find,

Their connection holds firm,

Unseen, unnoticed, unchanged.

Built stronger perhaps by lava flows.

Love works that way if you let it.