Rainbow in Ice

Rainbow in Ice

by Ralph Fletcher

I found a little rainbow
trapped in a chunk of ice.
Iced rainbows are seldom seen:
I don’t expect to see one twice.

It stayed outside my window
where the wind would keep it cold;
there were seven strands of color
and a tiny pot of gold.

All winter long I studied it,
how the yellow rubbed the green;
red and indigo made bookends,
while the blue nestled in between.

I wondered where it came from,
this orphan rainbow child,
and though I longed to tame it,
I knew to keep it wild.

One warm March day the rainbow left,
on brilliant wings it flew;
maybe I’ll see it, fully grown,
when summer storms pass through.