I have followed Kate Messner for years and have many of her wonderful books for middle grade readers. Kate is a real person, as well as an author-hero, who lives on Lake Champlain. Too cold for my southern blood, but she posted photos on her Instagram recently of ice flowers. Kate wrote a blog post about this phenomenon on her website here.
Natural beauty that comes with scientific facts fascinates and inspires me. I tend to dive into googling and wonder. Here is an interesting article from American Scientist. There seems to be controversy or conversation, rather, about what to call this amazing phenomenon. Frost flowers, frost weed, or frost plant, these winter blooms are sure to inspire some small poems.
(I tried a zeno poem today with the syllable pattern of 8,4,2,1,4,2,1,4,2,1 with all one syllables rhyming.)
Displayed on a black lake blanket
Margaret Simon, draft
diamond blossoms
gemstones
nice
beauty hidden
stinging
ice
golden morning
winter
spice
Leave a small poem in the comments. Be sure to connect with other writers by leaving comments on their poems.
Kate celebrated World Read Aloud Day today with a video of amazing authors reading from their books. Click here to find the video on her website.
frozen feathers,
like winter remembers
swans
Love the wistful tone of this, Brenda. Beautiful!
Thank you!
gorgeous…like winter remembers.
Hi Linda, and thanks!
I love the simplicity of this poem and the unexpected rhyme of feathers and remembers. Beautiful!
Not a haiku, but a poem with the last word. 🙂
I didn’t expect swans at the end, a beautiful analogy.
Those lovely icy blooms made me think of swans.
Brenda, yes, I see the frozen swans. Love your personification “winter remembers! I love your poem!
Thank you!
Oh, it’s fun to see a Zeno again! I love how you ended with “spice” which is perfect, but unexpected. This photo is amazing–I’d love to see this in real person (and probably take a bazillion photos!).
Here’s my very quick response:
Winter Portal
Would that I could wander
on water’s winter twin
Pick handfuls of frost blooms
Breathe their fragrance in
Twine them through
my snowy hair
and disappear
from here to there
snowy hair, disappear from here to there…such beautiful images.
Love your alliteration in the first two lines and the way “would that I could wander” just rolls off the tongue.
What an amazing free quick response. Your poetry is in your soul. Love the wistful wandering in the snow flowers.
Can you tell that I feel the need to escape? lol
Molly, what a great quick response! I love the images of you picking frost flowers, breathing in their perfume, putting them in your snowy hair and disappearing. Nice rhyme! Your poem is dream-like.
Love all those w’s — make me feel wistful.
I agree with Molly, spice is such a great word to end your zeno on. There is a fragrance to ice that’s fresh. I imagine that.
I read the Scientific American article and it’s packed with lines for haiku:
when water freezes
local flora are just right
a garden of ice
more of the ice blooms
ribbons of ice at the base
flowers of my own
looks like cotton wool
placed around the roots of plants
glistening like quartz
Love that you found phrases to fashion into haiku! “a garden of ice” – lovely!
I love how you create haiku from articles. It’s such a great way to synthesize information. I want to remember to do this with kids.
I’m also a fan of “garden of ice” and love Margaret’s thought about using this technique to synthesize info.
Linda, beautiful haiku. I liked those articles, too. I especially love ” garden of ice” and “glistening like quartz.”
Love that garden of winter haiku.
Love your zeno, Margaret – I will have to try that form. Kate’s pictures are incredible. Here’s my brief offering:
feathers
formed from frost
wait for warmth
to set them free
Those soft f sounds warm the poem.
I love the idea of those feathers waiting to be set free.
Rose, beautiful! Love the image of feathers being set free to fly! That’s perfect.
Love that last word and all the alliteration of good F-words, leading to that final F.
How I would like to see these! But all the poetry sheds its light. I loved Margaret’s Zeno poem and tried one too.
Fragile feathers on icy sea
crystalline in
dawn’s first
light
fell from angels
in the
night
ethereal
wisps of
white
Nancy Rust
Oh my! Nancy, you nailed the form! I love the word crystalline.
Impressive first Zeno! I love that beginning line.
Nancy, wow! I love your idea of the feathers falling from angel wings! Great word choices and rhyme. Beautiful! Love this.
Flowers, unable to be picked
Giving you frostbite, leaving your hand
red and pricked
Leaving itself to depict
As it fell the night before,
its buddies all aboard
All day hearing, “He’s going in..he scores!”
From 10-12 year old BORES.
From, Kaia
Kaia, I can see and feel that stinging frostbite! Great rhyme!
I love you Zeno poem, it is awesome! Keep up the good work on being an amazing poetry mirror for me.
Kaia
Flowers made of ice
Leaves made out of all the snow
Holding on the ground
Staying on like spice
And never letting it go
Not making a sound.
Daniel, I love your images of ice flowers and snow leaves, holding, staying, “never letting go.” Nice rhyme.
Frosty,
Warm inside
When ice flowers
dance to the
sugar plum fairy
song as they
coruscate with beauty,
they emerge
Into life,
spiral
Into formation
Wow! Love sugar plum fairy. Who taught you the word “coruscating”?
What wonderful verbs! I especially love “coruscate” and “spiral”.
Beautiful, images Chloe! I love your idea of the flowers dancing ” to the sugar plum fairy song” sparkling and spiraling.
Margaret, I loved Kate’s photos, articles, and everyone’s poems about frost flowers! Thank you for sharing amazing science beauty to inspire us, poetry from it, and a safe place for all to write. I love your rhyming zeno, especially the lines “diamond blossoms, stinging ice” and “winter ice.” I went to college at Plattsburgh SUNY, which is near Lake Champlain. I often escaped to it’s beauty. I definitely want to write a poem, but it’s very late and I’m too tired. I’ll come back tomorrow.
Margaret, earlier I wrote that I went to college near Lake Champlain. There is a local legend about a lake monster in Lake Champlain called, Champy. I never saw her, but I like to think she’s being cautious. In February, some villages in the Adirondack Park have Ice Festivals where there are contests for the best ice sculptures. In Saranac Lake just about the whole village is involved. They cut ice blocks out of Lake Flower to make an amazing ice palace! There are fireworks, a parade, races, they vote on a King and Queen and much more!
https://www.newyorkupstate.com/adirondacks/2021/01/saranac-lake-winter-carnival-2021-the-ice-palace-is-still-on-for-now.html
Sorry my story/poem is so long.
Champy’s Sculptures
“Reporting live
from Lake Champlain’s
Frozen February Festival
Champy,
our local legendary
lake monster
wrote this poem
in the snow:
ice sculptures
ferns and feathers
dipped in snowflakes
ready for flight
Folks, come see
Champy’s
frosty poem
and
delicate sculptures.”
Gail Aldous