''Ice''
in the warming house child lace their skate bending choke over their thick jacket a franklin stove keep the place so cozy it's hard to imagine why anyone would leave clump across the frozen beach to the river december's always the same at ware's cove the first sheer ice black then white and deep until the city send truck of men with wooden barrier to put up the boy' hockey rink an hour of skating after school of try wobbly figure-8's an hour of distance move backwards without fall thena-twilight the warm house steamy with girl pull on boot their chafed leg ache outside the hockey player keep playing slam the round black puck until it's dark until supper at night a shy girl come to the cove with her father although there be n't music they glide arm in arm onto the blurred surface together brace like dancer she think she'll never be so happy for who else will find her graceful find her perfect skate with her in circle outside the emptied rink forever