II

who is saved

has not presumed

they are lucky

 

who is damned

has not despaired

not despaired

 

I shall talk to you

and my words

penetrate

 

the delicate tracery

of your snowflake

heart’s venous

 

system. In this

way, I am an

intimate.

 

This life scales.

A voice is

animate

 

within

the voice, a voice

within and within

 

another, as

crystal ice

extends dominion

 

and despair

settles in general

over the land, winter.