Girl stands on the shore,
delights in the messengers of ice, 
whispers to her aqua blue 
friend across the water. 
He twangs and cracks back a code, 
a tale of their shared history. 

Woman stands on the shore. 
Her friend steps, reaches, 
strains for her, curls 
unwittingly away. 
Each message is a piece of him. 
A sacrifice. 
Each whisper is a piece of her. 
A betrayal. 
They, too, are many. 

Elder stands on the shore. 
She is long alone. 
The carcasses of his messages 
dissolve, 
erode like her joints, 
crack like her voice. 
The story is garbled, yet 
he cannot go to him. 
She, too, is stationary now.