A Lakeside Meal Poem by Leslie Neiwert

A sudden chill entered my mind as
My body touched the reckoning ice.
Goose bumps rose over my arms,
Slowly dancing across my splashing legs;
Can no one hear my pounding?
The lake ice had frozen over
When I decided to take a morning swim.
Now I’m stuck and paralyzed
From a freezing cold from within.
The chill of fear ate at my sight,
Bringing the darkness much closer.
My swollen hands slapped soundlessly
As I could feel my lungs weakening.
My heart seemed to slow to a small faint,
A sickening thud growing silent to my ears.
My last thoughts seem only of escape
As my body is petrified with a frozen fear.