Not Me

Ice invites the sunshine

to polish its surface

into a mirage-water reflection,

lying in wait for an incautious

pedestrian plodding along

in sure-footed stride – until

he thuds to pavement

like an icicle thawed

from the building’s eave.

Amazement puzzles his face

as his mind recalculates height;

bones and muscles startle

into jarring awareness

as the man leaps up –

and all is right with the world.

Ice glosses over

in a not-me pose

and with stoic patience

awaits another.