Submitted by Jane Dougherty
In the winter pond, the ghosts
of trees are caught in milky moon
light, pale as smoke and pearly
as the dawn that makes the ice
a glacier sky of frozen stars.
Do fish still sweep and curve beneath
the silk smooth surface of the moon,
the mirror glass of space and time?
Deer cracks the glass from side to side
with dainty hoof and scatters stars
into the watery firmament.
Winter, the sound cracks, gunshot-
sharp, like ice on pearly moonlit ponds,
like falling stars, a dainty hoof, pale
smoke recedes between the ghostly trees.
Photo Credit: The Lake and Town of Brienz – JMW Turner
Vita Brevis Press. 
Nice sound. I liked the phrase: “mirror glass of space and time”.
I like this one. So rich in imagery.
Thank you!
And I love the illustration.
Isn’t it fascinating? Turner has become a personal favorite of mine!
He has recently been ‘discovered’ by the French cultural establishment and credited with being one of the greatest painters of all time! Praise indeed.
I like the image of ghostly trees in the moonlight, and of course, space and time.
I did read “fish sweep” as “fish weep” at first. 🙂
I agree about the illustration.
I’m sure fish weep. Why wouldn’t they?
The mirror glass of space and time…you make the ghostly world sound inviting. Congrats! And I would never have guessed Turner, but a wonderful painting too. (K)
Thank you! Turner was a wonderfully impressionistic artist.
Reads like a piece that would well with an orchestrated score
With four movements and a wild finale 🙂