A book must be an axe for the frozen sea inside us... (Franz Kafka) How does one come to write with the power to melt a frozen sea? With force, daggers invade at large;
flowers penetrate our timid hearts less than they could.
The swans swim together mated for life, dive to their shoulders necks stained with algae; they sip along the water’s surface necks coiling, uncoiling. On the riverbank in late afternoon each grooms its white body.