It coalesces on the glistening icicle,
halved ovoid
tiny and translucent
but formed of myriad melting molecules
more in number than the stars in the sky

It clings tenuously to the slender stalactite
resisting gravity’s irresistible pull
gently pulsating
as it slides millimeter by millimeter
down the shimmering ice

It pauses at the sparkling spear’s tip
gathering its now swelling self
waning winter
suspended tantalizingly
before falling through the still frigid air

It falls and is gone
disappeared into the trampled snow
that single drop of water
dazzling in its rapturous descent
now unseen but ever remembered