Where Ice Winds Blow

Painting By: My Great Aunt "Phoebe Harney" (Circa 1916)

Where Ice Winds Blow

A mighty forest once graced the dell,

so green and lush, the lungs would swell,

birds, so many, were full of vigour,

the skies back then bright blue and bigger.

Our home of grace built long ago,

saw harmonies dream and spirits grow,

along the mighty river Grand,

where crystal waters blessed our land.

In life we toiled in rock and earth,

our blood and sweat, our death and birth,

destiny ours, belonged to none,

and everyday came moon and sun.

Alas, the darkness brought its weight,

outside the barn, the post of fate,

trails in snow, so crimson black,

animal’s sacrificed, hung out back.

A child sobs his curse for food,

with eyes so flush his grief imbued,

outside the evening’s cold and damp,

while oil wick Flickers in his lamp.

Despondent howls sing through the night,

wolves in chorus under moon’s light,

sleep is restless, while nightmares surge,

drowning in fears, where guilt’s converge.

Haven crackles with fire and heat,

bungalow kept so warm and neat,

canning done, jars waxed and sealed,

packed away, our autumn yield.

Through winters barren lifeless thatch,

bundled with care behind the latch,

fields desolate, covered in snow,

whistling gusts, where ice winds blow.

------------------------------

About this Poem: A photo struck me in a Poetry contest I entered recently, called “Outback Shed”. The Photo prompt in the contest was of an old homestead in the Outback that conjured up a memory of a painting my great-aunt made and gave my grandfather in 1916 (100 years ago.) The painting, depicted above, is of a farm at night, where outside, clearly visible is a trail of blood leading into the barn…the painting left an impression on me for a long time, that I’ve just now expressed in this Poem. Life and times were very different 100 years ago but this painting will always remain chilling with a reminder to me that all life is precious…