At the freezing point,
wild west wind and lake spray
mantle the trunk, marzipan on a rich cake.
Thickened ice highlights the outer layer
then darkens to charcoal-purple,
legacy of the long drift from forest
to midnight bonfires on the beach.
As it salves driftwood burns,
ice defines the border of a helmet
whose irregular edges soften the dark wedge,
trace translucent deltas that flow,
river to ocean evolution
from eye of shark’s prow
to fearful mammal below.