I could feel it breathe close to my breath.
Gliding on the frozen lake by the town hall,
It felt like a childish hour had come along.
Swinging my arms to welcome that winter evening,
I smiled and laughed and looked so happy.
Cold now, I could hear my own laugh ringing in my head,
Numb, I could still feel the joy of sliding over the new patch of ice I had discovered.
My blades mounting the creased snow on the two sides.
Marking the silhouette of my dance.
The heat of my blades had formed a thin film from the wet air.
Darkness. Shrill Pain. Banishing cold.
As I fell through the very ground that I had known to be so heavenly,
My mind flashed mere jigsaw pieces to an incomplete puzzle.
It had gotten so quiet- that I was forced to hear the noise in my head.
I wanted to pull myself out of that-
And hide myself in the brightness of the sun;
And lay there as long as it would take
for it to all melt away-
I could feel a breath closer to my breath,
And slowly, very slowly there came around a blurry face.
This winter was cold, infact colder than I had ever known it to be.
Yearning for the warmness of my baby blanket
I decided to wait for the spring to come around-
When the ice on the lake would be gone
And no would remember of that winter evening, except me.
I had loved to skate, just glide along life freely,
But now, more brittle, more experienced, more cautious,
I knew I’d never be able to skate my heart out again.
For this cold evening I wish to forget, I only remember so vividly.
By Sonia Agarwal’13
c
