And so he set aside

all the things he

had ever desired

and replaced them with vague

images of a woman

wrapped in ice.

Not so nice

the thought she

had frozen solid

two thousand years ago

He could still clearly see

the wrens

which would rest on her bare knees

in the courtyard of a king whose name

mattered not

and matters less now.

I have come to court thee

he had said

bowing his head in respect.

She whispered his name

letting the syllables leap and dance

upon rose gardens carefully tendered and

over the wheelbarrow upended in the shed.

He watched his name soar high above the parapets,

flash silver in a fading sunset

and explode to shower them in dying petals.

I will leave soon

he said with a smile

all the while

dancing to the left of her perspective

constantly making her turn to see him.

If you leave

I will die

she replied with one

chilled tear resting beneath her eye.

But he did

and she did.

And now,

with a match cupped in one hand

he had come to make amends.