Anne Rundle

Ashland University MFA Alum

Mill Creek Park

Surface ice frozen, 
leaves glide without choreography.
My muddy boot provoking
the edge reveals 
water bubbles underneath 
and a surface too thin to walk upon.
My footprint fractures the ice.
Only two days below freezing 
and the sun is out, keeping 
the water beneath 
slowly
moving. 

Decades ago the blizzard let 
a young lady skate atop much 
thicker ice alone 
in the frigid morning.
Does and bucks beheld her lightness 
twirling on the water,
mid-morning sun melting the top,
when the ice gave way.
She was saved by strangers
outside making snow angels
when her screams
echoed against the steep cliffs.

The ice tells ducks and geese 
to fly away, and
minnows and fish dive down to 
the bottom to swim. 
Their teamwork 
crafts a few small airholes
in the middle of the lake, 
unseen
by human eyes.

____

ANNE RUNDLE’S POETRY HAS APPEARED IN NIGHTINGALE & SPARROW, KISSING DYNAMITE, COFFIN BELL JOURNAL, COMMON GROUND REVIEW, AND ARTFUL DODGE. SHE EARNED A MASTER OF FINE ARTS FROM ASHLAND UNIVERSITY. HER POEM, “NOW THE TEACHER BECOMES THE STUDENT,” WON THE 2017 IDES OF MARCH CONTEST. ANNE RESIDES IN WESTERVILLE, OHIO. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER: @WRITERUNDLE.