White
For Ellie Hoovs' Unofficial Wonderland Poetry Prompt Challenge and an ode to Canada
I once lived in a world that was white.
It shone, blindingly so.
In its cold appearance, diamond flecks would flicker
And for those moments, it was wondrous.
It was pure, pure magic -
Icy confetti sprinkled by ice sprites
Chipped from the ice kingdom and lifted into the air
Mischievously, gamely,
To immerse me in nature's snow globe.
*
Beauty, though, has bite,
Especially when it's white.
It didn't want to be tamed
And would harden and slip away from you,
And even while it touched and teased you
In your brush with it,
Its steel would penetrate your bones.
Cold.
Deep, deep cold.
You were a toy to its extreme,
Anaesthetised to an extent not known,
Your body ringing, unable to be heard
Underneath the numbness.
But as you urgently reached for the red
Of crisp burning crackles
To colour yourself back to vibrant
From the blank immobilising canvas left by white's caress,
White screeched inside you,
A battle cry against the rallied heat,
Called upon to ensure white fire's retreat,
And the agony of white's loss reverberated,
As it scraped its claws through your core
Before shrinking to vapour.
Its brutality is frightening -
Its penetration is without mercy.
Now, my life is green and grey,
Softer, lusher hues
With white limited to the very fringes of winter.
But sometimes, in this verdancy
I dream of white
And I would relish its bite.
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Comments (13)
Love your ode to Canada and her winter… lovely to see but with a dangerous side.
This is lovely, and I hate the cold, so that says something. I love the appreciation of the beauty, to the harshness of the cold that seems in and doesn't want to leave even when you turn back to the warmth, to being warm again and yet maybe, just maybe, still wanting the cold, sometimes. There's more than ice and fire here for sure. i can see this in relationships.
Quite the blend of romanticism and harshness! The cold can be so brutal but there is that allure to it. Really beautifully done, Rachel!
As a person who doesn't deal well with cold, this was terrifying for me. Your imageries were very evocative!
This is wonderfully evocative, Rachel, especially the vengeance wreaked by the icy cold when the limbs have already numbed prior to the excruciating return of warmth. I suspect you have experienced this as well, perhaps in your years spent in Canada. I have suffered this peculiar agony enough times that unlike you I would not relish its returning bite! I moved south for a reason.
This made me think. Everything pure...all white...does come with costs, no?
You’ve totally captured the absolute bitterness of a North American winter! Felt cold reading this! Fab, Rachel!
Wow, Rachel, this is masterful! Truly a visceral experience. One of my favorite pieces I’ve read, truly! Gorgeous work! 👏🏽💫
Amen! I'm a Dakota boy living now in Kansas. I really do miss that bite of white.
Absolutely amazing, as always! Those last three lines were brilliant. Wrapped everything up in that cyclical longing for a different season. Such a powerful piece. Loved this!
Frozen beauty, brutal grace, endlessly remembered.
This was beautifully written! So visceral; I felt like I was right there experiencing it all with you. And I love how the poem ended with longing for the white again, bite and all.
I loved the chilly descriptions of this! It took me back to many icy winter mornings where it is so cold I can see the ice sparkling in the air like floating diamonds and feel the tiny prickles in the air I breathe. So many of my neighbors bemoan the frosty air, but I relish the peaceful quiet that only can be found when the world is coated in a blanket of snow.