afraid, as if any moment you might fall through
the thin glaze you’re skating on, you hold
your breath, as if balloons in your chest
could prevent the worst, until one day, a crack
and a startle of fish, and then the shock
of an older-than-memory cold, but what if
instead of drowning, you find yourself
in a room with a fireplace, and as you
settle before the hearth, a scene emerges
inside the orange embers.
A girl is kneeling in the grass, creating
a town out of leaves, adding,
moment by moment, everything
society needs. Rooms like this exist
everywhere beneath the ice.
the thin glaze you’re skating on, you hold
your breath, as if balloons in your chest
could prevent the worst, until one day, a crack
and a startle of fish, and then the shock
of an older-than-memory cold, but what if
instead of drowning, you find yourself
in a room with a fireplace, and as you
settle before the hearth, a scene emerges
inside the orange embers.
A girl is kneeling in the grass, creating
a town out of leaves, adding,
moment by moment, everything
society needs. Rooms like this exist
everywhere beneath the ice.
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Amy Gordon spent her childhood years in New England, France, England, and Brazil. Following a career of teaching theater skills to middle school students, she went back to school for an MFA in Poetry at Drew University. Her poems have appeared in Blue Nib, The Massachusetts Review, Pomegranate London and other journals. Her first chapbook, Deep Fahrenheit, was brought out by Prolific Press in 2019. A second chapbook, The Yellow Room, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2022. She is also the author of numerous books for young readers. Painting the Rainbow (Holiday House) won the 2015 Paterson Prize for Young People. She lives in Western Massachusetts.
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