like icebergs
we keep floating
through our lives
tops in the present
bulky bodies in the past
what lies unseen below the surface
steadies our course
above
we take it as it comes
sun, rain, and snow & ice & wind
sometimes it melts us down a bit
but overall
it makes the bulks of our bodies grow
the new weighs heavily and
pushes what was new before
downward
day by long day
until
in balmy southern waters
we slim down
and then
one day
a final ache splits
upward from the bottom
through the consolidated matter
of all years
and we drown
* *
