Icicles by Diane S. Jones

A fringe of icy fingers hangs from the eaves

Pointed reminders of winter’s wonders

Formed in a duel of melting and freezing

A transparent weapon, settling a point of honor

Dual duels

The battle between winter and spring    

Separate, yet united

Freezing and thawing simultaneously

Only a matter of degrees

And yet, not

Transparency fixed and transfixed

Tiny frozen waterfalls

Stalactites transported from caves

Discovering what it means to be 32

At the mid-point of life

Opposites, freezing and melting

Meeting, merging

At once identical, yet unique

No longer one, but not yet become the other

On the verge of a new identity

Merged

© Diane S. Jones                3 March 2018

Note:  I wrote this while watching the icicles outside our family room window, the day after our major snowstorm the day before.  I thought about how icicles form:  the freezing temperature of water is 32 degrees, and the melting point of ice is 32 degrees.  It is a fascinating phenomenon.  After I wrote this, I found a second definition of transfixed:  pierced with a sharp implement or weapon!