“Fragments Fall”

 

c. 2025 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(11-25)

 

Fragments fall lazily, like spring snowflakes

Carried on the restless wind

Elements for a potpourri to begin

From this mashup of meanings

Scattered, but joined in purpose

A collected anthology of verses

Ready to be read

I hear those words hovering overhead

With the vibrations of an insect swarm

Slight in force, yet persistent

Tingling the firmament

With a sparkle of lesser lights

That dot the dark canvas, overnight

These distant points of unrelated art

Though widely spread apart

Connect in the nexus of my cerebrum

Causing synapses to hum

And waking me from my slumber

I reach out for a spot to record

This groggy, gainful reward

Given as a gift from the dreamland cosmos

Eyes narrowed in the glare

Of a cell phone screen

Fingers tapping out

A description of what I have just seen

Half awake

Wielding a literary dish, half-baked

Jotted notes

A clearing of my throat

So real was the vision that I shouted at myself

Alone in the bedroom

Loud enough to shock

I nearly tumbled off the edge of my mattress

Sat there shaking before the curtain’s gap

At one side of my window

Rhythmic breaths taken with the cadence of a sacred chant

Until I am steady again

Only ten

Am I able to rise

Streaked with shades of moonlight

Standing on a threadbare rug

Should I shun my sleep, and go forward to the desk?

At the risk of trading needed rest

For an impulsive manuscript

A short step toward the conclusion

Of my work?

This bargain awaits to be pondered

Neither encouraged, or deterred

By the early hour

My feet find their path

Weaving between a chest of drawers

And the open door

Down a hallway too abbreviated to offer much separation

From my living room

Voices have spoken, it seems

In the stellar gleam

Of unconsciousness

I can only guess

What precipitated this coming of age

Gambling, far too late

Offering a chance to fill the page

Scribbling with my stylus

Clumsy and stiff

Before a leap into anonymous repose

Dozing in my office chair

As the memory lingers for this brief instant

Propelled by a thought

Silver and gold, shattered

Into glimmering fragments

An epiphany, a revelation

Heaven sent