Ice Forms on the Milwaukee River

It begins like sin
in the slow backwater and pools,

in shadow and around bridge pilings.
The sluggish surface hardens, 
grows in the middle of the night

as what’s left of warmth
stumbles up the bank,
survives dawns of chilled rain
leaving puddles the color of bruised skin.

Then, only channels of open water
a smaller river, like spring
streams cut in soft earth.
The lingering ducks huddle
on the edge.

In the end, a solid sheet.  Trapped air
floats like hands and faces
below the thickness able to support
anything.  Boot prints and tire tracks
wind their way inches above the hidden current
of numbing water, carrying coke cans
and river fish along the silty bottom.

Boulevard, Volume 21.1 — Fall 2006