Weight of Winter

This poem was based off of the style of Seamus Heaney, though I don't feel I did a very good job at imitating it. While I didn't base the subject on any of Heaney's poems, living in Rexburg means that winter and snow are always a topic of discussion. I had a very clear image of a minuscule twig on the side of a snow engorged mountain peak - an image that matched my feelings as an overwhelmed student from time to time. Too bad I wasn't trying to be symbolic, that could have worked! Here it is entitled 'Weight of Winter':

silence, stillness

a world of white forgetfulness

pressure builds upon a branch

unknown forces impose their will

voices and shadow carry through

an echo forever travels

the mountain and the fog,

bitter cold contracts the brow

of the yak

pressure builds upon the bough,

slender its strength is yielding,

gravity its tug-of-war,

through the blinding white

the clouds see nothing

the wind's moan is carried

from cliff to cliff,

picking a passenger it's cry

is multiplied, a highlight,

an unsettling cry

the branch has failed,

it's broken body

limps in it's former place,

pressure has released

unable the hang on,

silence, stillness

a world of white forgetfulness