The Ice Cliffs

By Mayanna Mueller

The themes in this poem sparked from an adventure in Lake Placid when I was visiting with my family. We went on a frozen nature walk and saw these gigantic ice cliffs.

On the peninsula of Mirror Lake, Lake Placid,
Daylight spreads over the frozen forest.
And the fingers of the thousand-hand giants tower over me,
Hardened thick with frost.
“Hello!” I say.
Nothing. No response, just silence.
They bow over like withering flowers crushed
By an invisible weight.
They communicate silently between each other. Nobody could interrupt.
There’s no loneliness like theirs.
And the light breeze moves the old sheets revealing the new underneath. 
There,
In that moment, I realized that if
I stay any longer, I will break into ice.

Process

This piece is inspired by poets like Sherman Alexie and James Wright. I studied their poems and structure and mimicked them, using my frozen ice adventure as the subject. I wanted to evoke a feeling of coldness and excitement.