my feet are wet in your oceans
your arms bear up my chest
(i am treading, treading)

the forests 'round my heart
blaze autumn-fire, blanket me in leaves
and violins breathe in and out
among the silent sky-borne birds

(and i am treading)

but winter paces near now, love,
all soft amid the silver snow
and spring cannot sustain us long
(for i am)

in an ice-trapped lake on frozen legs
(treading, treading)

and the flowers in your hair
long-wilted
still sustain the moment-memory
of summer

in such a summer all my hair bloomed pink
and irises and roses drenched my veins
your eyes, too, blossomed anew
(yet was i treading)

i cannot think a day will come again
when breathing in your smile
will blow the rain away

but thinking was always our avalanche,
i think,
that crashed between our fingers

and on those wild waves of snow,
i am
(in wait for spring)
treading, treading