Frozen by Monique Rardin Richardson Flares bursting through the bare branches, casts vertical shadows a mile long on the frozen pond. How can something with such beauty elicit so much danger? One incorrect step and I could perish without another word spoken or heard, into an iridescent slush of silence. I don’t want my last view to be the sky, a magnificent sight, although not the shade of blue I'd wish to see before there's no existence of me. If I proceed with caution, across the slippery basin, there may be a different outcome. But I'd be tiptoeing through the experience. So many moments, I wished I hadn't been chilled by the fear of you fading away. Numb by desire rising from my missing piece. Maybe, if I were me… Your heart would have melted into the warmth of my eyes and seen yourself as I did. Fingers forever entwined with mine, not released to a freedom undesired. Now I question… everything.
Hear Monique Rardin Richardson, and other selected poets, read their poems on The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast:

The value of poetry workshops: nine poets recite original poems – Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast
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Monique Rardin Richardson is a native of Northern California. She found the joy of reading early in life and began writing poetry and short stories in middle school. However, as a busy wife and mother, Monique was afforded only time to journal. Her son is now in college, and she has more time to follow her photography and writing passions.
She recently published a novelette, The Unlikely Dreamcatcher, and a memoir, When Then Became Now, on a lifelong friendship she had with a man who lost his life on the streets from addiction.
She is a member of the California Writer’s Club and Pleasanton Art League and has award-winning photos in galleries throughout the United States.
- Website: foreverpresent.net
- Instagram: @foreverpresentphotos
- Books on Amazon
- Etsy shop