Frozen Solitude by A.R.C.

Two miles of ice

Utterly freezing

Temperatures

A shrine directly

Across this frozen lake

A warning sign

Beware the waters

Beneath the ice

Once you enter

No one ever comes out

Unswayed

The traveler forges

Onward

One foot

In front of the other

Caution in both

Breath and step

A quarter mile in

So far so good

The traveler

Starts to get bolder

His steps bearing

More meaning

A mile from the start

He maintains a steady pace

Keeping true to his goal

Of steadiness and poise

Half a mile left

His steps are getting heavier

Fatigue setting in

Portion of doubt

Invading his mind

So close yet so far

At that moment

A thought entered in

Who wrote

That sign? 

How could someone

Have known

What would have occurred?

Unless...

As if sensing

His understanding

Of the situation

A specter appears

The ice beneath

The traveler starts to crack

As his feet

Break through

He now grasps

Why this is

Called the

Lake of 

Frozen

Solitude...