They sit on their respective ice floes,

tethered to each other
by a rope bridge grown tattered
and strained,
but still hoping to remain in
hearing
seeing
and
touching distance,
never wanting to drift apart,
and face
the unseeable currents
on their own.
They know that they will never live
on each other's tiny islands,
but they will keep the rope bridge mended,

even if the reason they do so

will forever remain hidden from their view.

He is forced to stay

because an abrupt departure

would be considered impolite,

indecorous,

bad form,

even hurtful

(in private ways)

to some of the onlookers.

So he stays,

frozen in amber

like a prehistoric insect,

mutedly visible,

accessible only to

the roughest of tools,

and destined to be a museum exhibit

of passing interest only.