silver festoons plummet
over sorry heads
as I cover deeper my illmilk hair, my fingers
wrapped so tight in bands,
furlined bands to keep out what is not of body.

what is cold
but lack of mother's chest
of father's back
of teethprey in heap?
is cold just groundfur, everywhere, coatlike?

is it not creation?
to fight against groundfur, to live.
no groundfur, no life. only groundmother,
only stone.

from where groundfur comes: a shedding
in reverse;
if skymother babies
wrap around all of us
who is to say I cannot be
boygroundbaby of the sky?

groundmother, coated in skymother's cold
greeting fingers, thousands, dainty, tiny;

when I proud and strong boy,
when I make strong hunt
and I am man and am herd leader
become flesheater fur cleaner
and older with grayfur
I will take groundmother of groundfur
hold it in my arms and there be
enwrapped in her,
plead to airchild, breathless,
plead to skybabies, soundless,
to let me skybound enwrap
the things I love;

keep on, valley of snow, valley of ice,
move through groundfur, feet crunch,
follow bigprey to field, slow bigbeast,
shiver at soulwarmth taking walk.