to split a log

when you strike an axe over and over 

the wood splinters noisily into foreign air 

crisp like your sweat which voyages from forehead to ear to the base of your neck 

en route to your heaving chest 

in a guided caress 

to ward off surrender

for your arms are quite sore

shoulders ache from repetition compulsion 

so nature lies that you are almost there just

please keep going until the log splits

from the damage of strike, over and over