Promptly Poetry

Fire & Ice

Morning dawns both cold and clear;
My husky shakes snow off his back,
Lopes across blanketed fields.
I check my supplies, heading after him
In preparation for a long trek.
Sunshine casts skeletal shadows
Through bare, crystal coated branches.
My breath fogs in front of me.

The goal: our winter home
Where my wife and daughter wait.
Don't ask how I ended up in a campground
Five miles away—alone.
Arctic winds numb my heart
As much as my face—
I wish things had happened differently.
Misunderstanding like frostbite: I didn't see it coming.

"Never travel alone
When it's forty below."
That's solid Yukon advice
But I'm tired of being here—
I need to get back to my family.
Clear sky, bright sun,
Matches in my pocket to build a fire.
What could go wrong?

The path winds uphill and down
Past iced-over ponds,
Unrecognizable haybales
Transformed into giant marshmallows.
I think I'm the only living creature
Dumb enough to attempt relocation this morning.
Stillness of frosty air hushes everything;
Even my talkative husky is silent.

My pace is brisk, my blood circulates,
I pull my scarf over my nose
Feeling warmth despite the dangerous temperature.
My mind is elsewhere, oblivious—
Pondering mistakes, morosely wondering
Why bitter brokenness shatters
What winter peace I find—
My own darkness is too much to bear.

Five miles is further than it should be—
Wind chill holds me back, a frigid hand
Pushing on my turmoiled chest.
Then it happens:
A boot plunges through ice like glass,
Down I go into knee-deep water
My clothes freeze solid on contact—
I'm a popsicle stick halfway up!

Nature is now my enemy
As I pull myself out onto dry land.
A fire must be built,
Dry clothes put on
Maybe a meal if I get that done.
Fingers numbing rapidly,
Stiffening, clumsy, stumbling,
I unpack my lifesaving matches.

Husky looks on with an anxious yelp
As I scrape together moss
Overlay with twigs
Grab some branches
Strike a match
Set it on fire.
A spark, a flicker, a sputter—
It fizzles out.

Panic rises as I try again.
Stay calm. Fear is debilitating.
Second match drowns in melted snow—
Augh! What was I thinking?
Third time's a charm
At least for now:
A roaring flame, a welcome sight
Warmth to thaw a chilblained soul.

Struggling to maintain internal temperature,
My metabolism in overdrive
Craves a can of beans for fuel.
We eat, a fragile success against the enemy.
I'm loathe to depart, but my fire is dying.
This path is endless, bleak, abandoned.
My patience wanes as knives of cold penetrate
Despite my best efforts.

I break into a run, stomping heavily
On feet hardly feeling the ground.
A slip on ice sends me flying
Face first into blinding white.
Ugh… I fall still, succumbing to despair:
If I don't make it, no one will care.
Forgiveness unspoken, a disaster unmended—
Ghosts of warm lies befuddle my mind.

Husky digs snow away from me with plaintive whine,
As much as to say
"Get up, you fool! All is not lost."
I remember my daughter, my wife,
Forcing myself to move
To breath air cutting my lungs
Following my dog to reconciliation
Before it's too late.

An eternity later, I blunder to her door
Too stiff and numb to knock
Silent apologies for my prodigal ways
Trapped in a heart frozen over solid.
Husky barks, howls, scratches,
Announcing our arrival.
She hauls me inside to warmth almost unbearable—
"I prayed you would return."

"Daddy, are you alright?"
"Daddy's a popsicle stick, honey.
You help him thaw out, ok?"
Unbelievable I made it home alive.
Grateful to Whoever guided me,
I swear I'll do better, do life together:
Never travel alone in winter's deceiving light.

Lines: 112. Words: 636.

Prompt: Use the words bean, can, match and grateful.

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