The Pond – jc staff

Early grey morning
Frosted grass, glistening
Alone in the park’s silence,
While the world is sleeping.
A dormant fountain
In a circular fishpond;
Within its stone-rimmed edge,
A ring of glass-like ice awaits
Untouched, perfectly formed.
Lifting the little girl up high,
Above the frozen surface,
Before thrusting her downwards,
Holding her tiny body, legs rigid,
Puncturing the ice with her shoes.
Shiny black patent Mary-Janes
Splintering the surface,
The sharp sound skittering
Over the cold, damp ground.
Now he raises her up swiftly,
Her laughter is unbridled joy –
Sweet, young breath, hanging
Hazily in the freezing air.
He’s running now,
Around the pond,
Perforating the ice
With her small feet;
A tidy ring of holes,
The child’s footprints,
Their secret artwork,
Created together.
One day, when he’s gone,
She’ll clutch that moment of love
Inside the gap he’s left in her chest,
And watch the ice melting into tears.