My friend, a physics DPhil candidate, Tells me how curious water is. There're five Different phases of water, he says, and twelve Or so of ice. Ice forms a crystal lattice, Which changes as you cool it. If You use pure water, you can keep it Liquid down to minus thirty-eight degrees Celsius, and then it freezes with a bang, Like the universe beginning over again.
I'm sure he's right. The more we cool Against each other, the harder we get. But somewhere under minus one-twenty, Ice gains viscosity, we turn to liquid, Start to melt again, hide our movements In the cold. So when you probe for warmth, You have to know that if you find it you will find A harder wall of ice between us, Drawn from the molten power of our rage.
From The Enclosure of Love (2001)
