Crystal Dance

I race down the white blanketed valley,
Picking up speed as I disturb
The resting crystals,
Stirring them into a feisty frosty dance.

The sun raises his sleepy head,
Then shivers and pulls up the covers.
Not today, he thinks...Maybe tomorrow.
I laugh at his fear of me.

My icy tendrils caress the bare branches
Of gnarled trees, twigs reaching like fingers.
I search for leaves, stubborn stragglers,
But there are none.

The water in the small winding river
Chuckles merrily at my failure,
So I dip close to him and whisper.
His surface freezes in horror.

I laugh wildly as I climb
Out of the empty valley.
The naked trees bend low,
Trembling under my icy onslaught.

My laughter dies as I reach
The top of the frozen ridge.
I halfheartedly tease the evergreens
As I wander along a well worn path.

Hinges squealing in protest, I push
Through a faded wooden gate into the back yard
Of a small house, rattling loose shutters
And swirling around the smokeless chimney.

In the front yard
A woman in black stares forlornly
Out over the snowy valley,
Her once pretty face pinched with grief.

I reach out gently,
Wanting to soothe her pain,
Touching her tear stained cheek
And bringing her long hair to life.

Her silky hair flows around her head like a halo,
Her dark dress rustling around her hips.
She gasps quietly and looks up at my touch,
Her ruby lips forming soundless syllables.

She turns and runs into the empty house,
My pursuit stopped by the heavy door.
I scream around the corner of the house,
Out the gate and past the shaking evergreens.

I cry as I soar along the ridge,
Coating bare branches in ice.
Slowly, I outrun the fading memories,
The pain in her face...the loss.

I forget her familiar face
And the soundless name on her lips,
That terrible, soundless name.
My last tears coat the cold ground as

I race down the white blanketed valley,
Picking up speed as I disturb
The resting crystals,
Stirring them into a feisty frosty dance.