Hunters in the Snow

after Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s ‘The Return of the Hunters’

I skate because the streets are made of ice,
because I have to learn, I skate
because the river’s hard and green,
because the birds are crows or magpies
but could be vultures overhead and in the trees,
I skate because the men are home from hunting
with just one fox across a shoulder,
because their sticks are raised and keen,
their dogs are slouched at heel, I skate
because I’m only half aware they’re there,
because the trees are leafless, naked,
their darknesses exposed, I skate because
the men around the fire outside the pub
have nowhere else to go, I skate
because I’m a girl with no running shoes,
because the women are knee-deep
in freezing water, because the white peaks
are so very far away, I skate because a man
has painted me in his image of a girl at play,
because I must keep moving, I skate
because I’m a girl, I have to learn,
because the streets are made of ice.

(from my collection 'Things That Fruit in Darkness', forthcoming 2026, published by Vagabond Voices)

Copyright © Sharon Black 2026