Sanctuary II

white, frozen world where
all the movement stops, where
birds are desperate and the
clouds go slow - everything
is covered with a rime of snow

in here, my tiny candle flame
I nurture in my heart, flickers,
seeking the number and the name
to count and understand
all the places where we part

the trees are still, rigid with cold
and today I will walk in these
desert lands and count the silence
precious, the pearl I hold in my hand

my breath is dust-of-gold, my
skin of ivory, my body precious
rosewood oiled, my soul is
fragrant spice and all my rosy
prayers I let spill from me

rise like incense in the frozen air
the china-blue of my eyes' stare
all the steps that brought me here

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