Grace Fallen Fox

Anayis N. Der Hakopian

Poetry and Digital Artwork

Grace Fallen Fox

By Anayis N. Der Hakopian

The ice is thick and solid 

With reflection of the sky on its surface

See through and clean

A canvas for painting and gliding  

Cutting through with blades 

I leave skid marks in my wake 

Like pen to a page, writing sonnets 

For the spirits below its surface.

As the landscapes start to awake from its coldest night

There are things we all might miss that are there in plain sight 

But within its sleepy state of snowy whites and mountain greys 

A blur of orange catches my eyes within the water’s blue state

I turn back, a slide away from my pace

To track this something that seems out of place

An image that distorts the surface of the lake

But somehow seems perfect in its space 

There within its layers, stuck solid in the water

Is a fox with fur that seems diluted from its lively rays 

Eyes that have been left with a gaze 

A jaw like a door slightly agape

With claws clutching to the frozen glaze

If it weren’t stuck still, I’d say it was drifting 

Drifting on a cloud of the ocean pool

In almost purple navy shades of fluffy dust balls

It is beautiful where it stays

But the horror is everclear- It’s panic and fear 

Stuck like a painting I can’t un-smear 

It’s last breath lingers there, as fleeting bubbles of air

That have hardly left its lifeless body which is now-

Frozen, dead, tangled in an icy snare 

Its memories seem to flash in my mind:

Going splashing, 

Paw paddling,  

Water freezing, 

Ice building, 

Ice hungry, 

Ice grabbing, 

Ice engulfing, 

Last breath drowning-  

Last state unrest with its soul in distress  

Left in grasp of a cold freezing night 

Alone, hoping, drowning, dying 

While the rest of life tumbles on 

So do I, carrying on with silver blades

Hoping for the seasons to do their job

Leaving the grace fallen fox

Floating on water clouds 

Left for Winter to hold

Left for Spring to recover

And Summer to burn it all