Outside taking tiny steps

putting pressure on the ice

watch the whiteness spread

then disappear when I move on

careful

cautious steps in heavy boots



walking on ahead

you pause to catch a moment

see winter wrap the world

in a veil of white silence



this place -

where the earth gives the illusion

it has stopped turning



Inside

warmth fires the colours

cracked

wood

turning burning orange

sparks off light

shining in our eyes