Intricacies Inked in Ice

By Oskar Leonard

From appreciation of the wintry weather to exploration behind the emotions evoked by changing seasons, this collection aims to illustrate winter in words. Follow snowflakes drifting down from frosty skies and frozen boots abandoned by the door, as well as many other images of this intriguing season.

This is Oskar Leonard’s third poetry collection, following his first and second, Aleatory Poetry and Our Paused World respectively. It represents a continued shift towards the examination and interrogation of nature, while maintaining a thoughtfulness and consideration for feeling which brings the natural scenes to life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oskar Leonard
• Release date: Feb 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005720193

Oskar Leonard

Oskar Leonard is a trans author, poet and illustrator from the UK, as well as a senior creative writer at TUGZ Magazine. He has written fourteen books: six novels, five poetry collections, two novellas and a short story collection.His short works have been featured in publications such as The Meadowlark Review, The Bibliopunk Lit Zine and Juven. He is studying a BA in English Literature with Creative Writing at Edge Hill University.

Book preview

For George. Thanks for making university a lot less scary, and being an awesome friend.

Appeal To Night

Beautiful night,

take me as your own.

Give me a purpose

only your cold heart knows.

Show me a shadow

formed from crystalline snow.

Tell me, oh night,

that I am not alone.

Welcome Home

Fall into the deepened heart

of all that is and has ever art

beneath a greying, blizzard sky--

so far above your wandering eye.

Now, look lower, to the earth,

and find yourself on frozen turf;

hear your little footsteps crackle

against every snow-white speckle.

Doesn't it feel so right to roam

through your wintry warm heart-home?

A Winter Lover’s Wish

Starlight melding with electric lights:

a world we only existed within, never

truly feeling at one. At home. Frozen wind,

lit cigarette ends, what do you want most?

A hug, and a lifetime, under an atmospheric

blanket of fir trees. Sweet words. Sweeter

than the taste of lip on lip, skin on skin;

loving bodies locked in a winter embrace.

A Winter Lover's Wish first appeared in Take Care Zine, Issue 6: Wishes.

A Study Of Iced Hooves

To stand still, with patience

etched into a long, noble head--

belonging in bronze, in gold, not flesh--

as chilled flecks settle on an inky coat,

and one dark hoof knocks against the earth

beneath this cold-blooded creature of power.

Next, a turning of the head--that elegant head--

to observe a disturbance beyond the fence,

but it is nothing to such a horse as this.

Yes, it looks, with patient eyes, but

just as soon, its muzzle returns

to the snow-licked grass.

Snowflakes

Nothing but shards

of the world;

nothing but splinters

of dawn.

They fall to me--

as if I need company--

and dampen

the edge

of my hand.

Traffic Light

Drifting between hazy red,

orange,