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.

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.