Author Information
The Lake
Folder:
Poetry You say everything’s a cycle
Your first breath frozen on the lake
Where crystals of snow illuminated
And the ice sparkles like diamonds
You walk across the lake shivering
Half cold half from fear
Of how long you’ll be able to walk on water
Before it breaks with one quick snap
And you sink down with the freezing fish
To lay still with a thousand quiet bones
Now the sun stays longer
And your soft snow drips from fingertips
Your cheeks fire place red
Half from the heat half from catching your breath
Soon the heavy sun will melt your crystals back into the earth
You watch tears, hear laughter
Rocking in her chair
Her safety helping you sink back to your dreams
Of big brothers
Chasing you through floorboard mazes
Countdowns and picture frames balancing in thin air
Leaving your dark thoughts in the dark halls
The ones you haven’t explored
Yet
Now the sun sticks
No more fire wood and ember ash
Green fields surface
You run
To catch up with the wind
And watch the world move in pictures
You chase the stars
Change faces in their dim light
How many you can hold
And with the seasons you watch them grow
Eyes that hide
But cut like glass
Years of dreams and counter clocks disappear
You see above her kitchen stove
Above the sturdy rocking and soft hair
That wraps around soft skin
And you wonder where your brothers are hiding this time
But this time it’s only your voice
This time their hiding hundreds of miles away
With their own picture frames and half closed doors
And your voice only echoes
Leaving you to your dreams
Now the rocking stops
Your father’s office locked
Tears and screaming fill the empty air
He locks himself inside
As the final sound arrives
Now red fills the cracks that slide under the door
Now the walls surround
Her eyes just stare in thin air across the room
The green leaving her completely
You run
As far away from the dark shadows
The cruel silence
As far as your body will allow
And under the thousand stars
The holes in your blanket
The thousand bones
You change faces
For the crystal lake
Where you walked on water
You swim to the center
Shivering half from the freezing waves
Half to see his face again
Proud and alive
So you take your place among the bottom and bones
