The Fragility of ICE

Ice is rudimentary.
Born when warmth recoils,
forcing molecules to cling to one another
in a frigid agreement.

Once, it preserved.
It once numbed pain.
It offered protection;
a reprieve from unknown surroundings.

Now it hardens.
It swells.
It threatens,
like a combative fice.

Ice appears powerful and solid.
Even unyielding, at times.
Yet it survives only within limits.

A little pressure fractures it.
A little heat alters its structure.
Even its elemental neighbors
can erase it with a touch.

If we stay still, its frost will bite.

We mustn’t remain still.