Marble Altar

Although it's metaphorical, the figure of speech creates an awkward image. Imagine two people with both hands parallel to each other, each holding a blade at the tip of their fingers trying carefully to slice each other's wrist, fearing an accident of slicing too hard, or too soft, like a walking on a tight rope. Because this image is too difficult to picture, the aim too difficult to be successful...

Why a river? Is it biblical to commit suicide by slicing the wrist and falling/diving down a river to be carried off down (possibly) a cliff? Twice dead? If there's a point here, it didn't succeed. Marbe altar isn't pictured as well, I tried to shoehorn it, still no image.

Seems a bit forced, and even if there's a symbolic meaning here, which i'm sure there is, one needs to force oneself to see it. And even once "seen" there is no feeling to accompany it.

Thomas this a short lovely poem even sadness is floating out to us readers, It like all the rhytms and short breaks in your poem

Intense. I like the emotion within it and the metaphorical sense behind it. It's really sad and broken though, even through the end implies a twisted happiness, makes my heartache.