This poem was written as an exercise in imagery for my daughter's 8th Grade Creative Expressions Class. I would most certainly take it as a compliment if you had thought, after reading it, that the poem had been written by one of her students.

Long Island has occasional ice storms. They occur when moist air coming in from the Atlantic Ocean meets a cold Arctic air mass arriving out of the north. Everything is covered with a sheet of ice and then sometimes with an additional light dusting of snow... deceptively beautiful yet still very destructive. Looking through the trees in our neighborhood is an awesome sight! The seventeenth image shows M45, the Pleiades Constellation (The Seven Sisters) and the eighteenth is a haunting photo taken by the Hubbard Telescope of the IC 349 or Barnard's Merope Nebula in the Pleiades.

  

  

  

  

  

  


 

               When Time Stands Still

               White Ice Storms pass; rare sparkling Dreams,
               Fine Jewels of Glass share Crystal Themes,
               Yet Sunshine dares to chase Moonbeams;
               The Snowflake's Lace, glares, glitters, gleams,
               While Skylights race kinetic Streams;
               Bright Winterscapes pace dazzling Schemes.

               Stars twinkling through the Pleiades,
               Icicles linking mirrored Trees;
               Glazed Wind Chimes, plinking, with the Breeze,
               To set each sinking Heart at Ease.

               Grand, magic Times, our World does freeze,
               Let Nature's Hand, the Moment seize;
               Reflections trapped; clear Fantasies,
               Gift-wrapped, in sheer Transparencies!
 

 

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İHoward B. Eskin 2000