The Vow of Frozen Time
by Alexandra Seidel
Vous êtes etoilée
he says, you are enstarred.
Rivervoice, moonvoice, starvoice, I am
forever compass-bound
toward you.
The cloudheart wants to go on this pilgrimage,
for pilgrims kiss the stars. The cloudheart has
no voice in a cacophony
that buried even rain in chatter-noise.
Vous êtes le rêve vivant
he says, you are the living dream.
Stealer of nights, somnambulant inkwell
that writes on my soul! The words will never dry,
the words will stain
forever.
The starheart shines comet-bright,
burns strata in my eyes,
scorches my lashes
and burns burns burns like fire on my tongue.
Speak, it sparkwhispers in my ear, speak
speak speak, the voice is yours.
Let's dance together
to this cold rhythm of charade
you and I,
ice for shoes, a glacier
the ballroom.
Beneath the caramel of his words
the ironheart is born.
It beats like bells that don't know sound,
beats with the noise
of falling snow, and
I shall be your snowbride;
I shall be white, pale
and paperthin,
nothing more to be but ice
in the distant light
of a star that never rises.
And let us drink together
these cold syllables of harsher stars
that sting my ears and
leave my tongue a wound
frozen in the ring of diamondtime.
Alexandra Seidel is a writer, poet, and daydreamer. She is also the poetry editor for Niteblade, which is awesome (both the editing and the zine). Alexa's poems can be found at Mythic Delirium, Strange Horizons, Stone Telling, and elsewhere. You can follow her on Twitter or read her blog.
When asked of what poem the word "cherry" immediately makes her think, she replied as follows: "'Cherry' makes me think of 'A Poison Tree' by Blake. While I do realize that apples and cherries are not the same, it still fits for me, which is probably a very boring answer, but you had to ask, didn't you?"
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