Natasha in the Snow

For Natasha Richardson 2009

Beneath the snow
lie rocks and stones
holding no surprises
but hardness.

Beneath the skull
lie blood and bone
hiding possibilities
in softness.

Two surfaces collide
in chance and time
spaces fill with heaviness
of blood swell

pressure pushing tight
Cranium restrictive
crushing and enclosing
bulging brain, coning

no oxygen drive
no breath for breathing
no ventricle pace
no pulse for beating

Pupils fix and dilate
no more responses
no more sweet senses
the subtle irony of nothing
no, nothing more
no-one.

© M.L.Emmett