The Beloved listens
as I dovetail words
into walls
and walk in winter landscapes.

None of the alien, snowbanked roads
lead home. Even as I speak,
the shadows shift
across the stones
I have tried
to mortar into place.

The beloved listens
and weaves willow silences
into my words.

The quietness of Love
builds me a better harbor
than words ever could,
a place from which to sail,
a place to remember
on the map I navigate by,
where the heart of the compass rose is home.