Castles of Snow and Glass

Many people build castles of sand

Far to close to the water's edge

So it washes away

By the end of the day

I built mine from snow

It was far more beautiful to me

That something so cold

could be sculpted at all

Pure white towers stand tall

Sparkle in the sunlight

With me on the throne

And, 1 by 1, I watched everyone's castle's fall

Washed away in tides

And I laughed because I found it funny

They loose their castles

And rebuild again

Add channels

In vain attempts to redirect the water

Add walls to stop it

While my castle still stands

Unmelting in the cold

Beautiful in the sun

But, as time went, the beauty faded

The snow got dirty over the years

The castle got bigger

Never fell

The outside was ice encrusted

I never understood or trusted

All those people building

All these sand castles

Washing away around me

 

Some of them paired up

Built them bigger and more beautiful

But no one wants to come into an ice palace

So I began to think of something better

But similar

And started my renovations

New expansions

From panes of glass

As towers finally began to melt

I rebuild them in glass

Glass can't melt

Glass can't wash away

I keep telling myself people will come now

Visit the glass castle

Shimmering in the sunlight

While the core remained of ice and snow

The closer you got

The colder it got

So no one went to far inside

Not aloud

When it opened up I didn't let them

For fear they would run away

People did come

They loved the glass exterior castle

Said it was beautiful

Most didn't ask of care

About the rooms I didn't show

The few I trusted enough to show them to

They all said they were ugly

How dare I have this dirty icy core

In this beautiful glass castle

Or they fought before we ever got close to them

Fearing the cold they were starting to feel

Wishing to only see the warmth

Of the brightly lit glass rooms

And many of those ones left

Forgetting that those cold rooms

Used to be beautiful too

Over time the glass chipped, broke

Cracked, shattered

Were replaced

As I realized this was a bad idea

As I realized just how fragile...

I had forgotten that cold makes glass crack

So often...I put up new glass

Through panes and pains

Thicker...Thicker around the icy core

Where I sat...alone...

And around me castles of sand

Built and washed away

Over and over

They never...learn...

So I thought

As they grouped together they built faster

They built stronger

But I didn't need that

Mine doesn't fall

Mine is beautiful

Mine in permanent

And mine...

Mine is cold...so cold...

People came and went

Time cracked and shattered

Less saw the core

Time didn't melt it

The towers were just getting bigger

My palace, more maze-like

I realize to late

Building from snow...

In the first place was a mistake

But it's to late now

To fix it or change it

I was so afraid...of it washing away...

Everyone I've wanted to see it

Thought maybe they could help melt this mistake

Or at least could understand

They only recoiled from the cold

Before we even got there...

So now I'm here

I built this castle

And now I'm trapped on the throne.