Without being born                                                    of water and spirit                                                  no one can enter...                                                                --  John 3:5 A world too cold, intent on turning water sent to wash away its wrath into a spiteful shell of ice requires some burning breath of fire to melt its mind's crystalline encasement, so  refreshment might still reach its heart.  Not once, but twice must grace be given to drive out death. You cried, you bled; but now I need some cause to laugh.  Come, just for fun--- if you desire a smile to part locked lips---blow  a kiss across their path and settle back to watch the blush be born and spread until, warmed by sun and stirred by spirit, the youth is bold enough to show his green. Whether one  will quit his cozy couch or cower in dreams depends so much on temperature  without.  Given sleep, morning light makes loss of peace a threat--- unless your tender touch, awakening me, reminds me of a future love  to live in.                                                                    -- Mahlon H. Smith