The Memory Of Ice

Inspired by Robert Macfarlane’s Word Of The Day tweets – Thrift (9Sep2019) + Roches Moutonnée (12Sep2019)

The roches moutonnée of her body
carry the scars and wounds
love etched across her curves
year after year
a living tattoo endlessly redrawn -
ink stained skin
blood soiled flesh
pain chiseled bone
charcoal burnt heart
belly drawn in fear
dead air sub-scribed into lung’s expanse..

Love, pushes and pulls continuously -
frail sediment forced to callous rock
stretching emotion toward eternity
patience pounded into pebbles
stray pieces to trip and falter.

Stoss remembers climbing
feet slipping over loose fragments
eyes searching desperately
for a summit in the ever-changing horizon.

Lee recalls treacherous falls from high places
the tumbling and stumbling of wingless flight
as love threw her blind
into the downpour of electric lust
desire scrambling for air
as the ground slipped away beneath..

A woodland of steady shadows
provides some shelter -
a darkness she can cling to
something to lean on momentarily.
Cool oasis where the charmed wagtail
flutters, whistling an enchanted tune -
beguiling guide. She follows his trail
faithfully into the open meadow
where, exposed to sun’s harsh glare,
her will melts into fragility.
Sleep sirens sing haunting lullabies
tender temptations to tarry awhile
but she must push on and on and on
down a nasal cliff
up to a sting of lashes.

Rock face holds the secrets
of deep embodied senses
places of insight second to none
of famished taste buds, bittersweet
nostalgia’s aroma on feedback loop
the memory of ice
and silence
falling
clumsily
amidst the buzz and hum
drifting across thrift
sinking into salt-water
those tangy edges
where luna rules all
and the body yields
undone.

In these places
her heart calls out
through calciferous layers
multitudinous epochs,
aches for kind containment
sings aloud a song of sorrow
for what was once and now no more can be.
She remembers rivers that once flowed freely -
a course of cool passion through gushing veins,
streams that fed her unquenchable thirst
quelling each florid flame, just enough,
joyful waterfalls cascading eminence
luminous drops of contented desire
endless ripples proclaiming an innocence
skimming the surface in unfettered delight.

But these are dreams that can no longer be
for love will not let her rest casually.