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Klondike
by Leonard M HawkesThickening frost,
And the Snow Moon rising
Above the icy river.
How quickly the rhythm
Changes here
To the varied pace
Of the fire:
Heat for me,
Heat for food,
Flame, for company.
So many, many times,
The same,
And never the same;
In snow, in mud,
In wind and storm;
This year bitter cold
With frozen ground:
But I teach them,
Camp them,
Expose them to Winter.
To the truth of the North:
Man against Nature,
Against the instinct
For comfort:
Back to the fire's pace
To wood smoke,
To winter stars,
To the honesty of cold;
And the silent mystery
Of the February Moon.
02/04/2007 Author's Note: Annual Bear River winter camp 2007
Posted on 02/05/2007
Copyright © 2025 Leonard M Hawkes
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 02/05/07 at 03:58 PM I always look forward to your works. I like how the rhythm changes with regard to fire and how you list its simple yet vital importance in survival outdoors in winter. Your last stanza is so strong - the meat of it for me - "back.... to the honesty of cold" and still there are the winter stars and the February moon. I was just reading the news about the NE arctic cold right now. How appropriate to read this poem right after! Thank you. |
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