HANDLE WITH CARE

Handle with care this prairie of glass

after a freezing rain.

Sunflowers and grasses are

entombed in ice and appear

frozen in time

like mammoths in icebergs

preserved like insects in a drop of

honey.

Rosehip popsicles glazed like

candied apples

taste cool and wet like fresh autumn

rain

and feel round and smooth like tiny

crystal balls.

The skinny aspen branches all hang

heavy

like crystal chandeliers

Chinkling and tinkling in the prairie

wind

Crashing and smashing as they fall

to the ground

and under my heavy steps.

And when the sun shines bright onto

the glaring ice

the prairie is a prism of light and

color

like the sight of distant Christmas

lights

during an evening winter storm.

I have never experienced such a

magical place

a crystallized community

so very fragile, beautiful, and rare

except for when I was standing in

this very spot

before the freezing rain.

By Rhonda O'Grady, 1992