POETRY • 45
BY JAMIE JANSEN A glint of steely starlight The thrust of falling hail on ice Shattering into a thousand tiny echoes On the River of January Mist rolls and breaks Atoms, splinters of the earthbound sea Reaching down in tendrils to its reflection On the River of January A lonely figure stands on the bank Staring at her reflection Pockmarked from hail on the water Stained by the shadows of starlight Chocked by the mists Written on the River of January All at once the figure is crossing; Crossing the deep River of Winter The mists slowly recede The punch of hail on ice weakens The steel gaze of fate flickers And dies For our traveler is over, and no longer at their mercy And in the River of January Just where it fades into the warm blue sky The wayfaring stranger sees a smooth and lovely reflection Of herself And her Guide
