the fog crept in

like a stealthy cat

balanced on the mountain tops

and swallowed up the view

the evergreens and snowy peaks

vanished like illusions

and he felt he was

the last man on earth

stranded on a swinging bridge

above a raging river

he could only hear

slowly methodically

he set off from each cairn

tapping the ground with his staff

like an old blind beggar

in a tale by Grimm

once he slipped

his fall arrested only

by his boot

lodged in a crevice

between two rocks

and it was then he saw it

a field of blue ice

as pure and clear as heaven

curled around the mountain

like a dog’s tail

he reached the cabin

just before the night closed in

and sipped his brandy by the fire

trading stories

with an English couple

who’d been lost for hours

when he finally nodded off

he dreamt of a beautiful Swede

with ice blue eyes

who held him captive

in her ice blue heart

(Originally published in Lakeview International Journal)