Thursday, December 10

A still winter night – shadows on the snow

This week's Theme Thursday is snow ...



A still winter night – shadows on the snow

A tidal mill, locked in ice,
buried in the night,
no throb, no pulse
no pendulum,
silent shadow in the snow.

Selene in trebled tinsel hair,
icicles tinkle for an echo.
Her frozen glare seeks out
Mount Latmos lair,
but can only paint
longing shadows on the snow

She casts her crescent spell
onto midnight’s skater
— tell Titan’s daughter the secret
trapped in stone water like
hollow shadows on the snow.

The wind whisks away
the words he will not say,
while whistling skates
carve out a daggered answer:
your lover’s cave is a nomad’s
drifting shadow on the snow.

no ebb nor flow
no to, no fro
no love
no song
no sleeping Endymion
tonight, moon shadows on the snow



Photo credits:
Top: Full Moon Fever - © Arild Heitmann
Bottom: Skater - © Jacob Jovelou

12 comments:

  1. Burr, this piece gives me the shivers. The first photo does look like a tide mill locked in ice. "The wind whisks away the words he will not say." Icy and haunting.

    Welcome to TT, LLL!

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  2. Thanks for the welcome, willow. I have always liked the idea of a tide mill as metaphor -- generating energy from the moon's sway of waters, with all of the moon's feminine connotations of daily and monthly cycles of vanishing and renewal ...

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  3. your lovers cave is nomads....wow. i was captivated by the pic, then whisked away myself by your words....welcome to theme thursday, i will be back!

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  4. That rocked. And the accompanying photos make it all the better.

    Not sure I've been here before, but your masthead gave me a sudden urge for Proust.

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  5. Nice seeing and hearing from you Brian, Kris and JeffScape.

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  6. Wonderful! That was truly amazing! Thanks so much for sharing that. :)

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  7. Wow, I've never seen that strong a shadow from the moon. Gorgeous imagery.

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  8. This was fabulous. Thanks and Happy Theme Thursday!

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  9. a snowy winter's night is something to behold...what a great pic and verse! Happy TT

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  10. Hey, there's quite a nice gathering over here. You should break out some wine, LLL. Let's sit by the fire and chat.

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  11. Yes, willow, I should break out some wine and gladly will some day. A warmer reception than I expected for such a mercilessly cold poem.

    Thanks to the feedback from my newfound bloggo- brethren, I am starting to feel as part of a community. Tech jargon says this is a virtual community, but it feels fairly real to me. Great to meet all of you and I look forward to making the rounds on your blogs.

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"Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods" — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Go ahead, leave a comment. The gods can holler a bit if they have to ...