For when they meet, the tensile air br Like fine steel strains under the weight br Of messages that both hearts bear- br Pure passion once, now purest hate; br br Till the taut air like a cold hand br Clasped to cold hand and bone to bone br Seals them up in their icy land br (A few square feet) where into stone br br The two hearts turning quickly pass br Once more their impenetrable world; br So fades out each heart's looking-glass br Whose image is the surface hurled br br By all the air; air, glass is not; br So is their fleeting enmity br Like a hard mirror crashed by what br The quality of air must be. br br For in the air all lovers meet br After they've hated out their love; br Love's but the echo of retreat br Caught by the sunbeam stretched above br br Their frozen exile from the earth br And lost. Each is the other's crime. br This is their equity in birth- br Hate is its ignorant paradigm.