Loosening the chains is easy
even down in the dark
but then there's the canvas sack
and the bolted metal box
locked from the outside
and when you're through the box
and the air's running out
there are still the fathoms of water
and the surface ice
and when you break through that
you find it's been raining for weeks
At this point those who know
breathe fall and deep
remarkable beneath the moon
in the welcoming lean of the sea
and walk out of the waves
across the curve of the beach
to make for home -
to make a fire
in a hearth swept clean
ash outside
in a galvanised bucket