
Winter records water talking to itself
Refrigeration strips its fern logic naked
Arresting it in mutely muttering motion
Making it hold still and behave

There is nothing secret about this ministry
It is wholly visible and clean
A furtive snap of the shivering children of hydrogen and oxygen
Gelid portraiture of startled liquid

Every artist should envy the frost
Letting the elements improvise
Inventing languages at dawn
Describing them to each other in each other

Heat drinks the whole opus by noon
But ice is embarrassed by its tearful past
The work begins again, and feathery latticework
Will wind translucent silver code around fresh air

We are all the strange projects of water
Proving out a blizzard of disguises
Fingerprints of reality at work
Frozen into legibility
About the Creator
D. J. Reddall
I write because my time is limited and my imagination is not.



Comments (8)
Wonderful imagery - Nicely Done!!
This is so rich in imagery it feels like I just overindulged! Such fantastic lines!
Your poem is brilliant, DJ. Such a wonderful use of mere words.
Fun to read - several times. Beautiful.
A poetically expressed view of the relationship of everything. Marvelous!
Shivering children of hydrogen and oxygen, that was soooo brilliant!
Wow. Just wow. I've read this multiple times. This is beyond deft.
I feel taken to school with this one. A wonderful poem with a lot of words I needed to look up and a bit of science too. Great job!