Our ship
Is fueled
By a deuterium
Iceball --
While the
Passengers
Sleep
In cryogenic
Tanks,
Those of us
In the
Crew
Make sure
Nothing
Goes
Awry.
Today I saw
The Ice Fairy
Again:
She looked
Every bit
As real
As the deuterium
Ball itself.
As she skated
Over the
Surface
Of the ice
I could see her
Quite clearly
On the
Monitors --
Her long, silver
Hair
Sparkles
And glistens,
Her eyes gleam . . .
My wife,
Also a crew
Member,
She says I've
Lost
Interest
In sex.
How can
I tell her
I'm in love
With an
Ice fairy?
It would be
So easy
To suit up
And go
Out there
Where she
Is . . .
And now,
Even as
I think
Of it,
I'm doing
It --
The air lock
Cycles open,
And I
Step out,
Bending over
To claw
At the surface
Of the ice
With the pitons
On my gloves
And my boots
. . . And there
She is,
My beautiful
Ice fairy queen
Coming toward me.
I reach out
To touch her,
To hold her.
I take
A step toward
Her
And my
Hands and
Feet
Are free
From
The ice --
I begin
To drift
Away.
As I drift
Away
I see
In her
Eyes
An
Infinite
Sadness.
Copyright © 2002 Robert Randolph Medcalf, Jr.
Robert Randolph Medcalf, Jr., has been a published writer since 1976, when his story "Catapilla" appeared in The Diversifier; His first poetry publication was in Robert Frazier's T.A.S.P. #3 (1978). Since then his poems and short stories have appeared in such magazines as Eldritch Tales, Space & Time, Weirdbook, Eerie Country, Beyond, Star*Line, Doppelganger, and Amazing.