Sienna steel slithers and huffs
Through snow-dusted cedars and pines,
Mumbling, dragging its steel tail behind
it. And nestled between serpent and shore,
Feigning indifference, a river sleeps
Semi-conscious, beneath the frozen tears
Of the land. A land that
Still feels the incisions
Made during the
Surgeries that installed first iron
Then steel runners on its back. And on
The bank of the river three trees turn to

Peer at the young, scaly intruder; a bleak
Memory rises from the earth
And tells them: this is the interloper who
Destroys the cacophony of peace
In the forest. On a tight schedule.
And behind, in the distance,
Mountains who once believed
They were immovable
Wrap themselves in white
Down and ignore the steel
Stripling whose hiss they remember
All too well; they heard it soon after
Explosions removed their immovable
Brothers that used to
Rule the valley where the steel serpent
Now reigns, unchallenged. But the mountains
Tell the trees, the trees tell
The river, and the river tells
The land: be patient; his sovereignty
Will not last forever.

Kristal Peace is a lover of words. She loves their puissance; their ability to charm, dazzle, puzzle, stun, comfort, help, heal, inform and transform. In her free time she indulges her love of words and uses those majestic creatures to write stories and poems.