The Crystal Palace

Palace of the wilderness,
such marvel to behold,
enraptured by the elegance
of this beacon in the cold;

Children of the midnight sun
to whom hope forever clings,
abandoned here in fractal time
on flightless, palsied wings.

Amidst this frosty wilderness we came upon a palace of ruined spires and sunken domes – crystalline in form. It refracted the dim winter sunlight through its thousand prisms, glimmering like a piece of heaven fallen from the sky. I wondered what god had left his presence here, amidst this cruel landscape – what monarch we would  find worthy of its mighty semblance? We entered cautiously into this building’s mystique like trespassers through the corridors of Valhalla. We wandered through endless chambers of crystal ice, accosted only by emptiness. I could only imagine what had left this place a shell of its once great existence. Perhaps the blurred world outside – which remained always visible through fragmented and transparent walls – had long since crept into this broken building. With each corner we turned, the contorted light pouring in on us held my loved one in new awe, and in her humility I saw a newfound beauty…and wonder that felt no shame.

(c) Darren Hawbrook