when the lake thaws

casting stones to the rhythm of my breath
I listen to them resound within twilight’s echo
rippling across the waning hours of night
in slivers of wave-breaking silent meditation
every shifting of the tide
brings a silvery secret desire
for tomorrow’s embrace —
a kiss of kismet — genies rubbed from lamps
coax my mellow-minded muse into a tiger’s roar
rich, melodious, crossing continents like the wind
my words — the paint of a poet with a movie camera —
immortalize the moment snowflakes caress the rain
prepare the timely sweet return of crocuses and iris
reaching for the bluest sky
in the timid golden pulse of a warming sun
basking there alone with the gentle ripple
I do not think about my need
for my verse to titillate the page
I rhyme and dance, toes digging in the mud
grasping springtime’s wet offering
like the circles my pebble made
last month, cast into the thawing mush
of the frozen lake of my inspiration



when the lake thaws
[2010.14.2…b]
Written for the Inspirations Contest, using all of the prompts.