Trees of Ice

by Edward Stanford

Trees of ice stand
atop a summer lake
out of place

crystalline pine cones
and diamond etched walnuts
hang down as if to ask
for the waters melting warm

red skies and blue mountains
paint the trees as if by
negative space — black and white

a bird named Cop Man Jim
arrests Rip Van Winkle
then pulls an Evil Knievel
and jumps a ramp of fire
off a cliff into a metallic tornado

a butterfly morphs into a caterpillar
and the trees melt into the water
creating a wave that washes over
miles of land until the roots of liquid trees
dig deep beneath frozen lakes.