Chilled Metamorphosis

By Michael David Jones

November.

This is a month

of metamorphosis.

The creeping winter wind

proclaims itself catalyst.

Conversion begins.

The cold cracks

calcium sleeves.

From these spaces

flow

  my marrow,

a 

thick river

running dry.

I am made Eliot’s man.

Then I am less.

Limbs, limp and lounging

are strung up

by simple sinews

tightened until taut. 

These bones

unhallowed

But hollowed still,

sway

in the  very breeze that broke them.

Conversion is complete.

I am less than a man.

I am a man, molded by wind

into a windchime of winter,

a cacophony of cord and chords

clinking in a biting breeze.

And in this outpouring,

my soul’s song is made known.

The chittering halts no cheer.

About the piece: "Chilled Metamorphosis" is written about the onset of colder weather. With it often comes a change in mood, physical pain, and a season of grey. More than this, it is about continuing to hope and sing in spite of all that comes with the season.

Michael David Jones

Michael Jones is an English major and a senior in UNLV’s Honors College. He is a poet, storyteller, and coffee enthusiast. “Chilled Metamorphosis” was written with the onset of the colder weather as a reminder to stay hopeful and warm in spite of the change.