FIRST FROST
Crystal-stained
window pane
shimm’ring in the night
Glimpse of shine
only mine
from the street lamplight
Frigid blast
Squealing past
tightly puttied sills
Stoke the fire
coax the pyre
Pray the chill it kills
© 2012 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For dverse, ManicDdaily (Karin Gustafson) asked us to write about something unexpected. After our long, drought-ridden, hellish summer, imagine my surprise to awaken at 2 am and see frost on the window. There’s something about the first frost, especially when it is backlit. Bring on the flannel! Break out the silk underwear (not the sexy kind – the overalls that keep me warm)!
Also to be posted on Poets United, my poetic pot-bellied stove… Peace and hot cocoa, Amy
Sep 22, 2012 @ 22:28:09
Memories of frosted windows in Scotland, many years ago. Doesn’t happen her, in Melbourne. Nicely captured.
Sep 22, 2012 @ 23:35:42
I loved this and agree, after our summer , it’s almost like we didn’t think a frost and cooler temps could ever happen again.
Thanks Amy, for sharing!
Sep 23, 2012 @ 00:52:28
Love the rhyme in this…we don’t have frosts here though.
Sep 23, 2012 @ 01:05:18
we’re still hitting over 100 degrees here. ugh!
have a lovely Sunday, Amy!
♥
Sep 23, 2012 @ 02:19:09
Transported me to childhood days peering through frosted windows ~ behind me, pa stokes the aga ~ fab poem Amy
Sep 23, 2012 @ 02:27:48
nice…we had the first frost over here as well already and i agree…it is a magical moment..and maybe a reason as well to break out the sexy silk underwear ya know…smiles
Sep 23, 2012 @ 03:07:12
nicely expressed and timely
Sep 23, 2012 @ 03:18:25
I love the form you have used for this unexpectedness. I hope we don’t see frost here for a while yet, but after the ghastly summer we’ve had, anything could happen. Hmmm: a Damart catalogue arrived yesterday with sexy thermal underwear. Is that an omen?
Sep 23, 2012 @ 04:41:08
lovely description. coming soon enough…
Sep 23, 2012 @ 05:42:42
nice….it is def cold here this morning…love the cold mornings though, fall is upon us and its my fav time of year…frost as well is beautiful and a bit of magic, love looking in its crystaline structure…and please stoke the fire…smiles.
Sep 23, 2012 @ 06:47:57
burrr — tis cold here too
Sep 23, 2012 @ 06:51:51
Brings you back to the world of houses without central heating and bedroom fires only for the sick or dying
Sep 23, 2012 @ 06:58:32
Oh, I so do not want the frost here. It’s tooooo soon! I don’t want winter to arrive. If we could stay as we are until late spring, I’d be happy.
But, I agree about being snug and warm and sharing cocoa 
Sep 23, 2012 @ 08:30:28
Ah, it is nice to see frost on the window after the hot summer, isn’t it? AND we have had hail twice during this past week. Really CLATTERING hail. The seasons they are a changing. A nice write, Amy.
Sep 23, 2012 @ 08:31:17
Lovely Jack Frosty (in the best of ways) sort of rhyme here – a bit of an incantation, but with a kind of great homey-ness. k.
Sep 23, 2012 @ 09:40:44
Through frosted windows one readily witness changes on the outside! Goes to show life’s vagueness is shared by many! Nicely Amy!
Hank
Sep 23, 2012 @ 11:56:07
I heard about that Midwestern surprise, and wondered what it would be like over there. You’ve got me looking forward to winter now… hopefully we’ll actually get (a reasonable amount of) snow this year in this part of the world.
Sep 23, 2012 @ 14:13:52
I know that underwear well; it’s a staple here in NW Montana! We had our first quick-cover-the-tomatoes night in the valley a couple of weeks ago. I loved the “tightly puttied sills” line–just the right image for the piece.
Sep 24, 2012 @ 02:54:56
This feel very much like a rhyme that children skip rope to. I love it, Amy.
Sep 24, 2012 @ 13:19:04
Glad that things are more chill
Thank you for sharing a lovely glimpse through the frosty sill–I miss this