icy persistence

cracked sidewalks red berries
dead brown leaves

the neighbors' ithyphallic
remnant paganism
they pile up rocks like
moss-covered stupas
Sumerian boundary heaps

which archaic gods decreed
this deep freeze?

stone gardens preserve
gripped lapidary memories
of shining gem-like ecstasy

while Martian water ice breathes
liquid beneath
this icy persistence