The Axe and the Ice

 

Disaster can be simply a broken tool:

He brought the axe

to the nearest shore

to make a hole

and draw water.

'This should be easy,'

he thought,

the ice isn't so thick

here

near the shore.

Bending down

he brought the axe

high

and drove it with force

into the hard surface.

But no more than a thud

and a dangerous rebound

repaid his

careful effort.

He stood again,

now, feeling the cold,

the icy air

filling his lungs.

He had never encountered

such a resistance

to his water drawing.

'Maybe,' he thought,

I must stand

farther out

and try again.

Carefully shuffling

onto the ice

he made it out

a few feet more

Then he slowly bent down

and raised the axe

farther overhead this time.

And brought it down

with a whack that echoed

across the frozen lake,

as the head of the axe

broke

And skidded far away

from a baffled man

standing and

trying to take in

Why and what

his failure would mean

to the wife and kids

as the shivers began.