The Lorelei Signal

Ice Queen
Written by Claudia Recinos Seldeen / Artwork by Lee Ann Barlow

Ice queen, she called me.
Ice queen, she hailed,
and warm little fingers
touched the edge my veil.
Ice queen, she laughed,
and her hands, quick as claws
drew me in close
to see if I’d thaw.
Up, high above us
snow like white stars
rained on my rooftop
and hardened my heart.
Ice queen, she pleaded
and rounded her spine,
and pressed her warm lips
to what should have been mine.
Hail tapped the glass -
white shards, hard as stone.
So I opened a window
to let in the cold.
Ice queen, she begged
and waned to her knees
like withering embers
before a deep freeze.
Wind blew like plainsong
all over the room
expanding my lungs
like flowers in bloom.
Ice queen, she whispered,
before she snuffed out
and all that was left
was some ash tossed about.
Outside, the snow fell -
a sea of white dunes.
Trees raked the sky,
and blotted the moon.
But inside, it was quiet.
The fire had died.
And I, lonely ice queen,
dreamed of summer, and sighed.





Claudia’s first novel, To Be Maya, is scheduled to be released December 2022. Her work has appeared in Touch: The Journal of Healing and was recently accepted by The Amphibian Literary Journal and MONO. Claudia is a first generation Guatemalan American. When not writing, she is usually flying through the air on a trapeze. Find out more at www.recinosseldeen.com.