The Ice Broke Quiet

Under boots, a sharp crack

splits the night like a secret torn.

The pond moans, thin ice fracturing

in jagged lines beneath moon’s cold eye.

The shock shoots through soles to bone,

an unsteady rhythm breaking calm,

a sound so sudden, it pulls loose

things I thought were frozen tight.

I step back, heart caught

between breaking and holding,

a thin skin stretched too far,

waiting for the quiet to settle again.