Alone at night
no power, no heat
only grandma’s quilt,
candle light, and the snap
of falling branches.
Freezing rain forms to trees
pruning the weakest.
Telephone wires sag and fall,
cars slide on ribbons of ice,
everyone is paralyzed.
An almost forgotten kettle
starts to whistle. A cup of tea
warms cold fingers.
Dawn reveals tree limbs that
glitter like diamonds
and crack like gunshots.
Life’s flurry comes to a halt;
appointments and deadlines
belong to another world.
Chimneys send smoke
signals. Life reverts
two hundred years.
Can’t argue with an ice storm.
Just marvel at the beauty
of Nature's indifference.
Author notes
March 3 & 4 of 1991, I was living in a studio apartment in Canandaigua, NY with my husband, though he was only my fiancée then. He worked nights, and so I was alone when the power and the heat went out. Even fully clothed and with all my blankets, it was too cold to sleep, so I was up all night, listening to the falling branches.
It took my husband 45 minutes to drive the 12 miles home, and as soon as he pulled in the driveway, I jumped in our truck and told him to take me someplace warm. So he took me back to the town where he worked, which had not been hit as bad as the town where we lived. We ate breakfast at a restaurant called the Pumpernickel in Geneva, NY. His grandmother and aunt and uncle were there eating breakfast too.
Then we went to make sure my mother was okay. We had to drive over several downed power lines on the way, and there were places where we had to go around fallen tree limbs. It was a mess, but at the same time, it was beautiful. My mother took lots of pictures.
We had power restored later that day. It took 5 days before my mother had power again, and my husband's sister had no power for a week. Some of the residents in the city of Rochester were without power for two weeks. When man gets too arrogant, Mother Nature reminds him who the boss is.
A contest entry
- 12 hour Winter Quickie by poet2angels.
475 points, ended December 9, 2007, 18 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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You're right... it needs quite a bit of work. I'm not up for it right now though. Will you email it to me? I see the poem it wants to be just under the surface. But man... I am burned out right now from work and not writing much myself.
Email it, and I'll get to it soon. -
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Got a virus on the computer at the moment. I can recieve email, but I can't send anything out.
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Also....this stanza made me go make a cup of tea
Now that is imagery
"An almost forgotten kettle
starts to whistle. A cup of tea
warms cold fingers. "
TY again
Lynda
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What a story!
Beautifully done and I especially liked the ending
"Can’t argue with an ice storm.
Just marvel at the beauty
of Nature's indifference. "
Lynda
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A very atmospheric and well-worded piece--I especially like:
"Dawn reveals tree limbs that
glitter like diamonds
and crack like gunshots."
Bill
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Thanks for reading. I'm still working on smoothing it a little.
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