Skate

In the tempered glow of moonlight

We make our way to lake’s edge

Where crude benches sport a crop of boots growing like magic weeds

Magic is palpable tonight

As the full moon illuminates icy planes

Where bladed dancers pirouette

And the unrink where shouts and slaps reverberate

As hockey teams form and reform playing boisterously into the night

This deep into winter the ice is thick

Still, snapcracks startle when a fissure leaps across the crystalline surface

For a moment our faith is tested

We wonder if our godlike powers of waterwalking are hollow after all

But that thought is as fleeting

As the meteor that arcs across the sky overhead

Unnoticed by skaters whose eyes sparkle in the cold light

Charmed into the out time of wonder

Eternally frozen into a perfect moment

David Trudel  © 2013