Niagara Falls, you deliver glory and awe this winter! Heaped with snow, giant cracks sever the river-ice below you, a survivor of mythic battles: water versus freezing air, movement versus paralysis, and the struggle to break free, break through, break open.
I love the edges of your ice banks, the borders of upheaval against which green swirling cauldrons steam, pool, and hiss. I love the seams of blue ice and the irregular holes in the ice-lid, especially the one beside the north bank and the other in the center of the river.
Niagara Falls, I love your giant ice sculptures, their humps, swoops and Matisse shapes. These small glaciers settle me into the soul of winter, birth echoes of the Great Lakes, great pools of ancient melted ice cupped by basins. This water, this ice so old and yet so fresh, sluices clean through me and gives me peace, ice peace.
2 replies on “Ice Peace: Prose Poem in Praise of Niagara Falls in Winter”
Love it! I have the painting to match!
Thank you, Helen! I would love to see an image of your painting!