Poem: Ice Break

On the far edge of winter

a frozen lake quakes and groans

as a warm sunrise hints at spring.

Its slabbed topwater,

fused by arctic nights,
kept silent vigil until now.

Hear the hard water whisper.

Feel its echoed crack,
the rumble of its low-pulsed boom.

Wait in stillness here

until the heart remembers—
any change sounds like this.

The familiar thaws unevenly,

creaking, groaning toward
open waters and greening shores.

From the collection, Ice Break by Samuel Rahberg