Snow Woman

I.

Upon the hills
The air was dry
And dead trees hung
Beneath the sky

As cold wind blew
The snowflakes fell—
A frozen kiss
From icy hell

The boy was young
Of thirteen years
His father weak
And full of fears

The trail grew bleak,
They couldn’t see
And as it snowed
The boy did plea

“My father, now
The path is nigh
Without some warmth
We’re soon to die”

“My son, Noël,
Let’s shelter take
Within that shed
By Frozen Lake”

It howled long
As deep they slept;
The night turned cold,
A shadow crept

Noël awoke
As in a dream;
The beams were bright,
He couldn’t scream

Within the light
A woman stirred;
She gazed at him
Without a word

And looking on
She passed him by
To kneel on down
His father’s side

Then from her lips
A frozen breath;
With that she gave
The kiss of death

His father slumped,
The boy was numb;
The woman came
And struck him dumb

“Your life is spared
With silence kept;
But should you speak
This life neglect”

II.

The boy grew up
An orphaned son,
Was raised alone
By local nuns

At work one day
He met a girl;
Her skin was white,
An oval pearl

They fell in love
And marriage filed;
Within a year,
A newborn child

Reflecting on
The life he'd led:
From orphan child
To household head

So happy now
With lovely wife
He told her of
His childhood strife

“When I was young
My father died;
I dreamt a girl
Who came inside

And kissed him with
A frozen breath;
And though I dreamt
I woke to death.”

His wife was still
With anger fraught:
“You spoke the words
I told you not

And now our life
Of love is through
For next I must
Bring death to you”

Based on the Japanese legend, “Yuki Onna” (Snow Woman)