That day, the river wove its own story
And I waited silent, hearing its breath
As daylight ascending over the apple tree
Plucked from the bark the ark of death

And knowing my tree would one day sink into the river
I called to my brother, "Let's run away
For I see the peak of the mountain cut sharper
Against the sky. Oh, we must find our father."

We wrapped our feet in woven grass.
We stored our water in gourds.
With vines we tied them to our backs.
We knew he had to be higher, higher.

Oh my brother,
Don't stop though the rain comes
For we must climb higher
And force our feet to meet the sun.

After one week of climbing up the mountain,
I no longer knew my feet from the stones--
So cracked like the bark of the blossoming cherry tree.
My blood whispered free from the cage of my bones.

And on the seventh day, the rain came.
I was so happy I laughed.
I knew that it would wash all of me clean again.

But night drew the rain around us
And I thought of a blanket growing thicker
Sharpening each tree and living thing
Like a cherry tree blossoming, blossoming,
White blossoms in my eyes--the snow.

Under the snow how bright
All of the stars
And with what a willing light
The moon pierced the branches
For the first time in my life
I knew what fear was
My brother I tied to me with vines
(Abandoning the gourds, for our water had frozen)
And so, both tied together,
We pulled and we pulled,
Pulled at each other,
Charging in opposite directions,
Two polarities each all for the other.

I tried to hide beneath a treetop
How the snow found me
I tried to hide beneath a riverbed
It nearly drowned me
I tried to burrow down to safety
What cruel deception--
The heat of those tongues lapping at your breath
And whispering, "We are protection."

My love, my love,
When the cold wind comes closer,
Remember this--
This story I've told you
And don't keep me warm--
Will you teach me to be warmer
For I'll rescue myself
From that cold storm--forever

Oh my brother,
Don't stop though the rope breaks
For I will find you in the snow
No matter how many years it takes

Why I survived and my brother was taken
I will never know, but at least I'll ask why
Oh my life, what a price you demanded
Just to learn that my father was the sky

And when, on that peak, all the snow faded below me
And I saw that mountain peak sipping dusk from the air,
The night sky a maze of amber-trapped memory,
All flooding with light
Well I knew we were there.