Monday, October 2, 2017

Invasion



image from iambrose.deviantart.com 


Invasion

“You can almost hear the frost faeries moving in
--but first you hear the crackle of their wings.”
--Vera Nazarian,

My home is twenty short miles from the Cascades,
and in our valley, lulled by the last weak rays of
extended summer, we watch the snow level
easing down on the brawny shoulders of the
foothills. Mt. Rainier has already put on its winter
garb, thickened its glaciers, and covered all its
bareness.

My wife frantically picks her tomatoes. as the
blossoms wither and the stems droop. Tomorrow
morning it will be 38 degrees. The massive maple
next door is ablaze with autumn’s blush. We get
busy gathering boots, winter coats, covering outside
faucets, readying snow tires, and dusting off rusty
tire chains.

The nefarious frost faeries are gathering like clouds 
of icy mosquitos. We hear them buzzing at night,
like ravenous humming birds, approaching in dark
murderous murmurations from the east, coming 
ever closer, their chilled wings aflutter, their icy
fangs agape, their frozen gaze locked on us.

Great Maple stands so
ready to disrobe, needing

to shed its leaf skirt.




Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub--Haibun  





16 comments:

Anonymous said...

It all feels so gentle until the onset of those faeries of the frost.They don't sound so cool, well not that kinda cool anyways.

brudberg said...

I feel the same.. so many things to protect when those vicious faeries are approaching... very good writing, and the haiku is exquisite

Victoria said...

Your prose, the descriptions are so stunning, culminating in a perfect haiku. I love everything about this.

Jane Dougherty said...

Winter sounds positively terrifying. Winter mosquitos with their vicious bite.

Alison H said...

I thought this was fabulous, I love the haste of the tomato picking, and the delights of the frost faeries.

Vivian Zems said...

Vicious faeries and a tree about to do a strip-tease. I like this!

Kim M. Russell said...

You have snow already - wow! I like the sentence: 'Mt. Rainier has already put on its winter garb, thickened its glaciers, and covered all its bareness' - for someone who doesn't much snow, that is so evocative, Glenn. Sounds like a busy time for you and Melva. I love that bit about the 'nefarious frost faeries'!

indybev said...

Oh, those rascally, nefarious frost faeries! How dare they spoil our autumn splendor. Great write, Glenn.

sarah said...

Not a fan of winter then?

tonispencer said...

Wonderful. You added a bit of terror to the coming winter. I too will be out picking the last of the tomatoes towards the end of October. I have already picked most of them to use in green tomato reliah - I was nothing. The haiku is absolute perfection Glenn, just perfection.

Frank Hubeny said...

I liked those frost faeries compared to icy mosquitoes. It is still warm or cool and I wonder when the frost will come. I liked your description of Mt Rainier putting on its winter clothes of snow and ice.

Sabio Lantz said...

Fun contradictions of images: ravenous humming birds and nefarious fairies. Frost, like much of nature, may be pretty, when you are not invested to stay alive. LOL

qbit said...

Love "Shed its leaf skirt"

annell4 said...

You took a wonderful prompt, and did something wonderful with it.

Frank J. Tassone said...

I sympathize with your wife's effort to save her plants from the frost. My wife loves to garden, and I could see her doing the same thing!

lynn__ said...

Never thought of winter mosquitoes but it fits! Those faeries are definitely cold-hearted but beautifully disguised.