Sad Girl in Snow

If you've never read the charming and touching webcomic Megatokyo, hurry up and check it out.

*A week passes while you catch up on a couple years' worth of comics*

The interesting thing is that Megatokyo is so good, it attracts a very creative bunch of fans to the forums. Right now, there's an excellent poem thread dedicated to one of Fred's drawings, "Sad Girl in Snow".

Garran started it:

I drew her on

A lonely day

Not dressed warmly enough because

I don't think about that sometimes

I wasn't dressed warmly enough either

And I'd shiver and the pen would tremble

I think that had some effect on her eyes

....

Jon Keim also has some nice lines:

I think her purpose is changing.

As she waits,

for me to fill in the lines,

and the shading,

the little details that will complete her world,

her purpose changes.

At first, a blank anticipation.

The curve of her face,

all the rough lines,

they were happy.

...

Regardless, the little fire

that burned anew in her oft-vacant eyes,

it drove her to this lonely park bench,

kept her warm,

though the trees were already bare this year.

(Flame was my intention from the beginning,

even before I started sketching).

There she sat,

clothed in construction lines

and doodled pose.

There was hope in that pose.

....

There's a lot of good stuff in that thread, so I encourage you to go read it. Anyway, this was my contribution:

This is the sadness that goes unspoken:

the tears held back, for if they fall they'll freeze -

the drift of snow, its lonely crust unbroken -

the stillness not touched even by a breeze.

Clear skies would make the night's chill colder;

Clouds are a blanket in the sky.

She warms the heart; men long to hold her

Who only see her while they're walking by.

Only she cannot see how lovely

She is, as crystals kiss her face --

Unique as those flakes from above, she

Is as ephemeral a grace.

It's strange to think we're the cyber-equivalent of some old Chinese poet or critic carefully inscribing a few lines onto the borders of a painting, itself probably inspired by a poem. But I don't think either our works or Fred's are any less worthy of such care.