Broken Ice
She stared out at the ice collapsed upon
the thawing, stony shore. Thick slabs that Time
had broken off, a sledge that pounded stone.
Be warmer soon, the one thought in her mind.
She turned away to finish work she’d just
begun—not endless, but enough of it.
The folding, putting things away, the fuss
of domesticity…things have their niche,
a simple truth that keeps the world intact.
When sunset bled onto the lake, she thought
about that ice, how life is freed or trapped—
of all, what brought her life the peace she sought?
She thought, A life is lived as best one can.
And that’s enough, she knew, to understand.
by Edward Hack
Editor’s Note: Sometimes the simplest aphorism can save a life.
Besides the relaxed use of rhyme and line breaks, including a few that are sudden, and nice sound runs through middle parts of the poem too. It nicely simulates melting.
A very wonderful poem- it’s beautiful but ” beautiful ” and ” wonderful ” are so cliche. My vocabulary is usually very good…sorry. A moving poem and the sounds are evocative.