Winterfire

By Cliff Lake

 

Winterfire

 

Lacy,

Deadly,

Cold and ubiquitous,

The crystalline sheen heavy.

Beauteous weight,

Scintillated danger,

Hard as the tyrant’s heart,

And as fragile as that ego.

This is the winterfire,

Bitter and brilliant.

Lo, when the sun sparks it,

His distant heat only serves the refreeze,

A melting reprieve may take days!

Impermanent jewels dazzle,

Glinting on tree and wire,

They cause the falling of the weakest –

Gravity is the law.

On the wind,

One hears the creaks and snaps,

A testament to accumulation.

On the lawn,

All is fixed in place,

A tribute in precipitation.

This twinkling fragility,

This hidden gloss,

This burnished hazard,

This is the winterfire,

Beautiful and perilous,

A warning,

And a gift,

One may look and marvel,

But navigation is impossible.

This is the winterfire.

Today,

This is life.

 

Cliff Lake 1/4/2025

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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