Cows' hooves crack, crows
gather, a hard winter
is coming, sure as the Lord, fire
on the plains, bones snap
underfoot in the snow, walking
on bones the spine rises up
up-up! through the clouds that whiten
the sky where the Lord is waiting
with fire in His mouth, take that
and that and you will, oh yes,
you're dancing on ice, the sweep
of the blade, you're climbing
the bank to the little wood hut,
you're warming your hands
by the fat coal stove, there's fire
in the belly, fire on ice! a marvelous
drink, says the lady in red, her hands
are bones, her flesh is a dress,
a transparent dress, you have seen
the bones that wait
by the sink, you can suck
them out, there are worms
in the house, an owl cries out
like a woman on fire, roots
push deeper, cling to the soil but
winter has come, white flames
are falling like snow and nothing
will ever be born or cold or dead again.