Frozen Window

This was written in the sestina format (see "The Sestina" ),

December, 2009; 3rd place in

ID: 1207944   (Rated: E) Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest  Use the quote to inspire your creativity. Write a Non-fiction essay and win big prizes! by Diane

Frozen Window

I haven't seen snow in thirty years, but I still remember
What the bitter cold felt like through the window.
I could freeze my fingertips by touching lightly on the glass.
My hot breath on the cold pane left frosted patterns,
Just as a memory can paint itself onto a mind and into a life.
I stared for hours through that frozen lens at many different people.

I stayed bundled and warm, and through the window saw people
Out in the cold, doing things they would never remember.
But I would, because their stories froze in my mind and became my life.
Kids outside made angels and threw snowballs at the window.
The adults shivered, and shoveled walkways into lightly dusted patterns.
I watched their lives, their loves, and their joys through that magic glass.

Icicles hanging from the trees formed watery spikes as clear as glass,
That swayed and broke and crashed, but usually missed the people.
The smashed ice created giant snowflake patterns
That were too beautiful not to remember.
In awe of what I saw, I kept watching through the window,
As the snowy days passed one after another through my life.

As a child I watched, and their stories melted into my own life.
They became my own loves, and my own joys, beyond that glass.
My body hid in the warmth, but part of me floated through that cold window,
And shivered with the chilled bones of those other people.
If I ever really did go outside, by now I don't remember.
Mostly I just watched, and thought, and made my frosty patterns.

Sometimes I drew things less like freeform patterns.
Once it was a finger painting of my neighbor living his life.
That picture is still fresh and easy to remember;
It is as frozen onto my mind as it was on the bitter glass.
He pushed through the snow and greeted the other people,
And smiled, and laughed, and waved to me through the window.

A gloomy storm once piled snow high outside the window.
Shadow robbed the light and hid my icy patterns.
It blocked my view of the world, and all the people.
Heartbroken, I longed for the snow to melt and release my life,
The life I lived through the landscape beyond the glass.
It seems so long ago, and I wonder whose life I really remember.

Even now, I can remember the frozen world beyond the window.
The glass itself must surely remain, but long gone are the frosty patterns.
Life goes on, and across the years we learn to love new people.