Slip-Slide Time

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inMotherhood, Poetry, W3 PromptsTags:, , , , , , , 
crossing snowy ice
without worry for the path
sun slip-slides onward
signatures painted on ice
designs lingering in time

I wrote this poem for the Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt #141 at the Skeptic’s Kaddish. This week’s prompt comes from Suzanne, who asks write a poem with the following criteria:

  • Theme: Yutori;
    • Yutori is a Japanese word (noun or verb) meaning: ‘elbowroom; leeway; room; reserve; margin; allowance; latitude; time (to spare)’ according to Jisho.org;
  • Form: Any Japanese poetic form;
    • *Click* HERE for an explanation of Japanese poetry forms by James P. Wagner (Ishwa) and Nick Hale

Taking advantage of one of the few years where we’ve received a good deep freeze before any lasting snow, we decided to skate around the lake in town yesterday. It was much smoother than it would have been if the weather was more chaotic or if we’d had a mix of snow and freezing temperatures, like we usually get.

We arrived at a little lakeside park in town that is decorated in holiday lights with a warming bonfire and a cleared skating rink on the ice. The boys were at first content to skate around the rink area, and it wasn’t too busy. But then, of course, they had the idea to skate through the one-inch layer of snow surrounding the rink so that they could see their tracks. One thing led to another, and soon we had a plan to skate all the way across the lake.

The ice was really clear and about twelve inches thick, and we could spot the occasional bubble or crack in the layers under our feet. It was a really popular day for ice fishing, and we spotted at least fifteen trucks on the ice and twice as many ice shacks. The boys got a kick out of all of that; “How can people drive their cars on top of the lake?!”. There was still plenty of space for us to skate around on the smooth ice, all the way across until we could barely see the park where we’d started from.

31 thoughts on “Slip-Slide Time”

  2. What a lovely tanka Sarah, but wow the story with it too, what an experience for you all to share. I have been to ski resorts where we were able to walk across the lake (or on dog sleigh) but never been able to skate across – that is what yutori dreams are made of (for me) and precious yutori memories (for you). “signatures painted on ice/designs lingering in time” – atmospheric imagery..

    💞Suzanne

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      1. HI Sarah, congratulations I am passing the POW hat to you…. 👏. The image of forgetting the path for while, time still passing but with those “signatures painted on ice” has stayed with me … thank you …

        💞Suzanne

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    1. We had a great time! It is pretty interesting to see, especially the first time. When my middle child was a few years younger, he saw some people ice fishing and asked what they were doing. I told him, and he replied, “Why in the world would they want to do that?!”😅

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  6. Sarah,

    Love how your tanka captures the peacefulness of the moment—crossing the ice without a care, like the world’s just unfolding in front of you. And the blog post paints such a clear picture of the day; I can almost feel the cold air and see the tracks in the snow!

    BTW, Suzanne has selected you as our next PoW – I’ve sent you an email with “next steps”. If you haven’t received it, please email me at DVDBGMLNY at GMAIL dot COM.

    Much love,
    David

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