For today’s prompt, write a thaw poem. The term thaw can be used in relation to food and the weather. But it can also relate to people and relationships as well.
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Here’s my attempt at a Thaw Poem:
“He Still Stands”
He still stands–or leans
upon the stick that made
his arms–even as most
other patches melted
the day before. His hat
sits in the grass beside
him next to his rock eyes
and carrot nose. No more
smile. No more mouth.
But he still stands
for now.
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Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community and author of Solving the World’s Problems (Press 53). He lives just north of Atlanta, where at least one snowman still stands from last Friday’s snow.
Follow him on Twitter @RobertLeeBrewer.
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Find more poetic posts here:
- Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 416.
- WD Poetic Form Challenge: Ottava Rima.
- 30 Poetry Prompts for the 2017 November PAD Chapbook Challenge.
the cryogen fields
by juanita lewison-snyder
at night when my face hits the pillow
i am lulled into a deep freeze,
breathing slows
limbs atrophy
mascara clumped lashes secretly
becomes whale baleen, to sort through
krill-like dreams skirting the
cold artic depths of the brain.
earth continues to spin through nightfall
flirting with colorful borealis ribbons
in cold space, while asteroids glaciate by.
when sol has had enough of the show,
he calls forth daylight to chase away
the last residues of borealis
and thus trigger thaw in my hippocampus.
lashes flutter
stomach growls
bladder signals urges
a yawn breaks free from an ice floe
deep within the lungs
and i awaken from the cryogen fields.
© 2018 by Juanita Lewison-Snyder
Throw a sunburn down
On winter thank you please,
A white heat for a white land –
The thin metal sky ignited
Slow burning at the edges.
Through frigid temps and falling snow
I warm the car and then I go
Down icy roads I slip and slide
A couples times I almost died
A make it to a parking space
Inside I spy no friendly face
The servers hurry to and fro
But where Christina did you go
Your always prompt and wear a smile
The others make me wait a while
Your service is what keeps me there
For food I can get anywhere
With belly full I’m home to stay
I slipped and slid most of the way
I hope Christina you’re okay
I hope your back another day
Sorry for the typo the A should be an I
i think i thaw you
standing there,
frozen
,
accumulating
clouds.
ODE TO A MICROWAVE
O small box which on my counter sits
you have an honored place, a special niche.
Long years ago you caused some people fear,
but now I cannot do without you near.
If I forget to thaw something for dinner
you do that quickly. You’re a winner!
Yes, I use the microwave. Often. Don’t know what I would do without it.
not a n ice age
the ice queen rose and donned nice clothes
and pondered our oblivion
she silvered plants, did frosty dance
hard horrid cold spikes driven
imposed her will bone marrow chill
we shivered getting number
then found her flaw escaped her claw
with wondrous thaw of summer
(thus humans kept on swarming
albeit with global warming)
gpr crane
Hmmmm this one has bite.
HA! Well done, and creative!
I like it. Mystical twist to it.
Winter blues
Winter blues, winter blues
You have me so confused.
Your icy smile lingers
Freezing my tiny fingers.
Go away, go away
Come back another day,
When sunshine’s warmth returns
Dissolving my concerns
Giving up your final breath
Awaiting the season’s death,
As my frame of mind changes
I will become courageous.
yep… you may have s.a.d. … i know i do… gotta get out and get some sun asap and as often as possible too… i enjoyed your message and pace and rhyming, especially changes and courageous
Great final lines!
Good one. I can’t relate to winter blues, but many in my family can. It’s a real thing, for sure. Check with your doctor to make sure you are getting enough vitamin D, get as much sun as you can, and perhaps check into getting a blue light. God bless you!
Thanks Marie. I have actually been battling a nasty flu for a few weeks. Would much rather live in a warm climate. Quebec can be cold. Don’t get me wrong though, I like the Christmas season.
I’m week 3 of something sinusy/throaty. Not sure if it’s a sinus infection or cold of some kind. Tis the season, eh? Feel better, Margo!
Winter blues
Winter blues, winter blues
You have me so confused.
Your icy smile lingers
Freezing my tiny fingers.
Go away, go away
Come back another day,
When sunshine’s warmth returns
Dissolving my concerns
Giving up your final breath
Awaiting the season’s death,
As my frame of mind changes
I will become courageous.
Thawed
I will wake to a rainstorm,
my toes cold as February,
and I will remember we’re
out of bread. Out of milk.
You’re at the window, a tall
silhouette, and I remember
how your turn can thaw.
It’s Thursday, and I wake
to your rainstorm.
“… and I will remember we’re out of bread. Out of milk.” Yep. Ugh. And what great images you create with nothing but words.
Nice!
melt
I glare at the floor
frosty-eyed
wanting to shiver
into his arms
but afraid of
melting completely.
Nice contrast.
Indeed
I third that.
So relatable.
Perfect.
DECEMBER KNOWS
When comest the thaw?
The promise of a heartless tease
wishing for a gentle breeze,
to bring showers and hours
of warmer times. Late fall mimes;
nothing but storms in site.
Just the right temperature
to set a nice White Christmas
into full flurry. Every sensory stimulus
is provoking as I stand, choking back
my enthusiasm. A wide chasm between
illusion and what I know to be reality.
It is this intrusion from this lake; unfrozen and
enabling, labeling these shores as
the snow capital of nowhere. Glancing to stare,
aware that the forecast calls for resurgent flurries.
You scurry to catch a quick glimpse of the skies
and there before your eyes you realize.
The snow machine is well in tune.
I hope it thaws before it’s June!
Parts of your side of our lake intrigue me, but I know it would get old and tiresome. But oh do I love being snowed in! “into full flurry” … I like this! 😀 Well done, Pard!
NOW IS THE WINTER
I.
Three hundred sixty-five
days ago
my apartment was fifty-two
degrees and dark,
heart-beating black light
death row waiting room
intense and I was blue
skinned shivering covered
in tickling trickles of blood
running crusted down
legs and cheeks
weeping plasma, drowning,
crowned in veils of secret
lies flying, wailing
like spectral faces writhing
chanting die, die, die
and be at peace
in the body’s cold, thick
rigor, the vigor
that only stillness brings
like winter washing
over water; hardness.
hardness is the way
to walk to the other side.
II.
Twelve days
until Christmas
and I have one hundred five
milligrams of hope per day
to keep pace with seasons
ever changing.
<3 keep the hope.
Yes. Keep the hope. And wow what a powerful, powerful write.
we thaw the star afar
we all thaw the three kingth
then think
good Lord
it mutht be cold out there
gpr crane
note: my muth, who probably thould have been mute, commented “thorry… he hath a cold”
HA! Love it! And we were on the thame page here! 😀
Hahaha!
Ooh, strange situation here.
I thought I thaw a thnowball
Up on a thnowy wall.
How fun to throw,
but I’m too thlow,
and what I thaw had thawed.
Makth me think.
BIG smile here
Impossible not to read aloud!
Yes!!! LOLOL!
Melting A Queen
She was aloof, an ice queen, they said
’til romance struck, and warmed her heart.
Though common knowledge said well bred,
who would trouble to invade her head?
She was aloof, an ice queen, they said.
Then she met someone who ignited her spark.
She was aloof, an ice queen, they said
’til romance struck, and warmed her heart.
I like this, both for the imagery and the play on the triolet form.
YES. Well done!
Until the thaw
White skin thin as
wet paper slide
over knuckle bones
hidden in her youth
like the abandoned
program that fell
from her fingers
to the theater gutter
to freeze over small
bits of debris as she
ran from the snow.
powerful!
Oh, yes
WOW.
At Bottom
Some days ice is skim
what we call the thinnest
opacity on the creeks, just enough
to hold the slender feet of snow
birds dancing to eat sycamore seeds
floated down from the white arms
arcing overhead. I can see water
on other days, ripples heading down
stream taking all those years
accumulated feelings sending them
under the few remaining bridges
that have yet to be burned
trickling past bicycle tires,
the industrial hoses with
their strangling loops lodged
against the plank bridge palings
orange styrofoam from an old
cooler tossed in for the journey.
But on a day like this I can see
right through the frozen haze
to where you stood as I ironed
your soccer shirt, steamed dry
your daughter’s dresses, the baby’s
diapers fresh in from the freezing
air where the rocking Maytag held court
outside and drying lines pinged with
almost ice. Your mouth imprinted
with its leering sneer on my heart
like the shape of the iron held down
too long, seared into my being
the way trash in the creek finds
itself trapped, unable to move
so that I return on a day like today
hiking the low water only to find
at bottom my heart has yet
to thaw, my boot coming down
on your face frozen into this
December morning a thousand
miles from where you dare say
how you still remember me.
Powerful imagery, vivid enough to see.
Wow. This is almost tactile, as well as vividly visual.
Oh my. SOOOOOO well penned. Chilling.
YOU CAN’T DO IT YOURSELF
Winter
builds a jailhouse
denser than an oak tree;
cutting it requires a sturdy
thawhorse.
What a great description, William!
Speaking of making one smile. 😉
LOLOL!
Unfrozen
The gray snow clouds take their time drifting on
blown away after enduring the day
the white coat hung for the night, by gaping
muscles exercising their right to speak
painful reminder of brush with failure
‘muscles exercising their right to speak’ – love that line!
Yes! And envisioning your scene.
I find myself reading (and seeing) this over and over.
Thaw Mode
Before the first flake
before Lake Erie freezes
our minds spring ahead
Ahh. After so many years away from Lake Erie, I can still feel this.
Two more Erie buddies, Walt! 😀 (Walt and I are on opposite sides of the lake.)
Love this gem, tripoet.
I grew up near Rochester NY (that other great lake) and went to college in Buffalo, brrrr. I get homesick, until winter hits.
I am in N.W. Ohio, right below Michigan. We get harsh winters, but generally nothing like the opposite side of the lake.
I don’t mind snow at all!
Watching from my window.
With my mug of hot tea.
While my husband kindly clears our drive, as well as neighbor’s drives.
😀
…and I thought WE were the only Eerie lunatics penning poems by that fabled shore! Our numbers are growing!
Ahhhh. Or shall I say brrrr. I am from Syracuse and it’s actually recorded that we often get more snow than Buffalo. My nephew went to school in Buffalo and he told me that some of the buildings were connected by tunnels. Anyway, I think that Syracuse “invented” concept of the snow day. Thanks for posting y’all.
Our tribe is increasing! 😀
Yes.
IN THE DEEP FREEZE
So, I said to myself as I cased the joint,
“I wonder why it’s so darn cold.”
“Now I’m not one to draw fingers and point”
I said to myself as I cased the joint,
so I hope that someone steps up to anoint
a guy to crank up the heat before I’m old!
I said to myself as I cased the joint,
“I wonder why it’s so darn cold.”
I’m Thawy You’re Tho Thore
I wonder why it’s so darn cold?
My body’s feeling beat up.
Perhaps my joints are getting old,
since I wonder why it’s so darn cold.
There’s no use complaining, or so I’m told –
I just wish someone would turn the heat up!
I wonder why it’s so darn cold?
My body’s feeling beat up.
FROZE NOSE
My body’s feeling beat up today,
and it probably will tomorrow,
and my nose has been running all the way,
and my body’s feeling beat up today.
But if there’s one thing I could say
my frozen nose is filled with sorrow.
My body’s feeling beat up today,
and it probably will tomorrow.
You guys are hilarious together!
😀 Thanks, Alice!
Yes, their triolets are like some potato chips: you can’t have just one.
Hear, hear! <3
It Might {Not} Snow,Man.
It probably will snow tomorrow,
unless you’re in Southern Nevada, man.
So much to our school sorrow,
it probably won’t snow tomorrow.
Do you have some flipflops I can borrow?
If it’s 50 or over, that’s the plan.
It probably will snow tomorrow,
unless you’re in Southern Nevada, man.
Go north, young lady.
‘SNO MAN LIKE A SNOWMAN
Unless you’re in, Southern Nevada, is where it’s at man!
It’s never really much of a gamble
as things heat up in SoNev. I’m a fan!
(Unless you’re in, Southern Nevada, is where it’s at man!)
If you can make it there, anyone can,
if your in the mood to ramble
Unless you’re in, Southern Nevada, is where it’s at man!
It’s never really much of a gamble
Anybody Got a Hair Dryer?
It’s never really much of a gamble
whether or not my muse will come back to life.
I don’t mean to rhyme, or ramble,
but it’s never really much of a gamble.
Even when she’s frozen, she’s got an angle
that allows her to thaw just in time to write.
It’s never really much of a gamble
whether or not my muse will come back to life.
ANYBODY GOT HAIR?
Whether or not my muse will come back to life,
it is surely something for which I hold out hope.
But the truth of me getting my hair back cuts like a knife.
Whether or not my muse will come back to life,
I know my days of a flowing mane are memories rife
with sadness and a cold pate; too late for this dope.
Whether or not my muse will come back to life,
it is surely something for which I hold out hope.
Has Mrs. Claus Thawed Yet?
It’s surely something for which I hold out hope,
(she was angry, that’s for sure!)
This Merry Mr’s not a numbskull or a dope,
so it’s surely something for which I hold out hope.
We were jolly good up until I uttered, “Nope.”
That’s the last time I put the reindeer before her!
It’s surely something for which I hold out hope,
(she was angry, that’s for sure!)
MR. CLAUS STILL WARMS HER HEART
She rarely gets angry, that’s for sure!
Mrs. “C” knows the job he has to do.
And every year he comes back to her,
(she rarely gets angry, that’s for sure!)
He love is lasting; his intentions, pure,
and his jolly heart is always true!
She rarely gets angry, that’s for sure!
Mrs. “C” knows the job he has to do.
Yes, Virginia.
Mrs. C knows the job he has to do.
It ain’t easy keepin’ people believin’.
The two of ’em are stuck like tough sleigh glue;
Mrs. C knows the job he has to do.
He’s got spirit to spread, and holly-jolly, too.
No matter how often he’s gone, she’s not leavin’.
Mrs. C knows the job he has to do.
It ain’t easy keepin’ people believin’.
YES, VIRGINIA (THERE IS A ME)
It ain’t easy keepin’ people believin’ in me
or this idea of peace and goodwill that is my cause.
Sometimes there’s more to the eye than you can see,
and it ain’t easy keepin’ people believin’ in me.
Believin’ in what you don’t see is the key,
as sure as I am Santa Claus!
It ain’t easy keepin’ people believin’ in me
or this idea of peace and good will that is my cause.
Holding the World in White-Gloved Hands
This idea of peace and good will that is my cause
does not always come easy, but I ho-ho-hold on.
This world sometimes alarms me, gives me pause,
but this peace and good will that is my cause
will always prevail, for I am Santa Claus
and ‘to ALL a good night’ is an idea I’m sold on.
This idea of peace and good will that is my cause
does not always come easy, but I ho-ho-hold on.
HOLDING THE REINS AND ALL GOOD WISHES
It does not always come easy, but I ho-ho-hold on
since the reindeer know the way to guide the sleigh
when we’re on the way and get our cold on!
It does not always come easy, but I ho-ho-hold on.
I’ll take the thaw after all the gifts are gone
and take the time to relax on Christmas Day!
It does not always come easy, but I ho-ho-hold on.
The reindeer know the way to guide the sleigh!
Laughing All The Way
The reindeer know the way to guide the sleigh,
heads held high and bells a’jingling.
Even when snow falls and wind does sway,
the reindeer know the way to guide the sleigh.
They don’t get to party until after Christmas Day,
but come December 26th, you’ll find them mingling.
The reindeer know the way to guide the sleigh,
heads held high and bells a’jingling.
BELLS ON BOBTAIL RING
We really fly with heads held high
and bobtail bells a’jingling,
a one-horse open sleigh zooms by,
and we really fly with heads held high.
Oh, what fun it is to ride, we emit a sigh
with all our senses a’tingling.
We really fly with heads held high
and bobtail bells a’jingling,
The byplay here has been brilliant. It is fun to witness the two of you at work thusly.
Thanks Bushkill. I have always had great partners and I only reflect their brilliance. De is extraordinary! Marie Elena and Sara McNulty and Paula Wanken and Rosemary Nissen-Wade weren’t too bad either!
…and Janet Rice Carnahan…
Thank you so much, Bushkill. It’s such a blast.
KEEPING THE SEASONS
A girl who knows this great big country knows
the roads and trails that close up first with freeze;
the way an east wind down the canyon blows
and how an early snow bends down the trees;
the place where glitter-fields with cold sun glows
and frost begins to fret the valley lees.
That girl will bundle warm to trudge outside
and walk the land that waits its thawing tide.
Beautiful. “and frost begins to fret the valley lees”
Holiday Thaw
I asked Santa for
a holiday thaw.
Let us share warm
drinks and hot food.
Make the sun shine
outside and inside
so the ice will melt
and we will have
a breakthrough.
By Michelle Pond
Nice!
Holiday Thaw
I asked Santa for
a holiday thaw.
Let us share warm
drinks and hot food.
Make the sun shine
outside and inside
so the ice will melt
and we will have
a breakthrough.
By Michelle Pond
When Winter Rules
The bitter cold has gripped the land in ice.
All’s frozen in its place and nothing moves.
The winter’s tightened grip exacts a price.
The road is marked with stubborn frozen grooves.
The food stored in the cupboard must suffice,
As we inside will wait till temp improves.
So we’ve become subject to winter’s law
And dream of warmer days when comes spring’s thaw.
“The road is marked with stubborn frozen grooves.” SPOT. ON. (And great poem!)
Thanks Marie
>strong>THE LAST THAW
Who is this guy, Thaw?
Where does he reside?
I’m up here in Buffalo,
and it’s not where this guy hides?
Did you see the game last week?
Did you see the snowing?
Did you see the white outs here?
Did you see the blowing?
Some of the fans were jacked on “Jack”,
some were filled with beers,
the only thing we didn’t have
was Santa and his ‘deers.
15 degrees as of this write,
with wind chills below zero.
I’d be shivering all night
waiting for a hero.
There is no thaw in Whoville,
it’s colder than cold can be,
There is no thaw in Whatville,
(wherever that may be.)
So as I’m waiting for this guy,
thaw or what’s his name,
I’ll be knee deep in Buffasnow
and I’ll know who to blame.
Buffasnow…. love it!
HA! Me too! And yes, I saw the game in part. Wow.
Sidney, Montana, 2002
For though his sins were scarlet,
the white that was the snow
covered them,
preserving them—
that dead body of evidence.
The wife of the man in the snow
thought he’d killed himself,
his children,
abandoned them.
And so it was a silent night,
a lonely night,
the perp frozen in the lake
as the vic thawed in the woods.
Brrrr… gives me chills. Well penned.
Oh my yes. 🙁