Glacial Affection

Lizzie Waltner

I will give you frost bite when I kiss you,
leave snowflakes on lashes as I pull away,
I will help you understand the importance of hypothermia.

When the shaking stops
feelings have only just begun.

Your body will attempt to warm my heart
while I keep you embraced in cirques,
and form alpine glaciers with our bodies.

We’ll create sediment beneath us,
leave mountain peaks in our path.

We’ll flood valleys when the sun caresses
our skin before we’re ready to melt.

You will attempt to remove the winter
from my bones and replace it with summer.

This will cause irregular heartbeats
that damage my crystalline structure.

Eventually, we’ll find equilibrium:
my snowfall matching your melt.

We’ll feel timeless –

carve ourselves to the beach,
freeze the tide,
extend our grip above the ocean
and generate icefields.

We’ll enjoy the sunsets for a time,
‘til one of us shatters,
and breaks into iceberg.

My fingers will frost over
never close enough
to touch yours again.

Lizzie Waltner grew up in Rio Rancho, NM, attended ENMU for her BS in Journalism, and then has since moved to Wales, UK to complete her MA in Creative writing at Aberystwyth University.

 

 

 

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