INNOCENT OF ICE
would you wish yourself innocent of ice? (1)
My mother says she loves rainy days the best
but aren’t the skies weeping
step outside and it’s messy
the clouds heavy and gray –
over an ocean, the rain is lit up
by moments of fire, writing on the firmament
that disappears moments before we decipher it
maybe it’s what the thunder speaks
and we cover our ears while it shakes the world
there’s a reason why the curtain was torn in two
when the world shook and nearly fell apart.
rainy days hold the world’s tears
falling apart,
washing away everything;
spring and summer rain always grow something
but winter rain
holds ice, Luci reminds us,
and freezes bone, freezes grass,
leaves dangerous beauty like ghosts
holding the brittle branches together,
catching the light
and not letting it go
so that in its winter death and life
it is stunning, blinding, and we cover our eyes
would you wish yourself innocent of ice?
from Luci Shaw’s “Inside/Outside,” in Sea Glass
