A placid lake was the perfect place to whisper without words. Frozen over in December it ceased to move on the surface still, it flowed beneath icy bounds. The fish lingered in the water muffled as they were by the barrier above. And we ventured along the edge sliding silently as we did along the lake that would relent with brighter sun. We knew the fish were there they had nowhere else to go. So must our thoughts swim as silently as the shadows just under our feet. The barrier between us would melt in time and warmer weather. We would move in lapping waves and peek out into the air. We would talk once again to the birds and the trees and each other in time. We just needed time. For now we walked together as we always did steadying each other on the ice so precarious, promising to hold each other should one of us slip. You reached for my hand guiding me over uneven ground and I held on long after traction held us to the earth. Our connection meant we fell into step four feet moving with the sound of just two our strides tapping a rhythm with each crunch in the snow our trail marked behind us together with the prints of foxes and hares now hiding in the brush. We didn’t need words, not this day, only the knowledge that the ice would melt and the warm weather would be here soon.