Sunday, July 31, 2011

Glacial Poetry

These poems were written as a group after our experience of hiking on Root Glacier. It is a hard place to capture...

Root Glacier I

shuffle of boots

radical erratics

tuffs of poplar hover

skeleton of one dead leaf

etched onto an icy page

accelerating

time sped by autumn leaf drop

too easy, not fair

faster and faster goes by

the years, marked by love and tears

ice water grit-flow

adapt to plasticity

this is your test, now.

Root Glacier II

Patch of black ice peaks

through rocks, looks like rock. Sneaky

slippery. Watch out.

pock-marked by gravel and stone

a ridgeline of whale back slope

leaf skeleton melts

sinking to ice surface

what is your imprint?

ice woman has no skin

and no sunscreen to protect

so exposed on the ice

nowhere to hide from wind and sun

except under hood

Root Glacier III

glacial ablation

where ancient capillaries trickle

body with no skin

pebbles flow within structure

structure with constant changes

crampons tightly secured

I crunch over the ice’s surface

a tap dance of metal

each hole a new melting place

filled up with water and dust

hope against hope. I

Wonder: what will happen next

after it all melts?

Root Glacier IV

ragged dirty ice

ascending to frozen sky

old, old dirty ice

odd that one can stay so soiled

with so much running water

from azure mill wholes

bubbles rise like sacred breath

air the mammoths used

something ancient seems so new

“non-living” seems to miss the point

forward to the river

first a lake icebergs form

then the water rushes

Root Glacier V

crunching of crampons

over rock and icy mass

euphoric laughter

echoes over deep mourning

noisy roars creaks moans and squeals

like rivers of ice

constantly moving forward

we move through our pain

turn a corner, pause, full stop:

Glacial erratic, huge, black.

stones within emerge

sealed with change bonded with time

life inside the gray

Root Glacier VI

lines cross the landscape

cutting stripes curves cut deeper

straight ancient round new

ever moving forward

past the mountains high above

caves edge the bottom

a chance to explore below

who is brave enough

spikes of steel bit her surface

new pools form in their wakes

and one brave woman

takes off her knives and goretex

to swim naked, ICED

Root Glacier VII

white blue clear bluer

so cold and so beautiful

you make me feel warm

yearn to jump in your waters

pure, crystalline, magical

depths uncertain

surface so easy and calm

arms glide in with heart

deceptive façade begins

placid conceals deep danger

cold winds blow down the

glacier – catabatic its

called. Frosty nights ahead

Root Glacier VIII

charcoal tops the ice

chips and shards of ice peek through

cobbled together

moving in unison

forward motion forever

strength beyond measure

maniacally powerful

dynamic current

patient, unyielding, watchful

careful to persevere

ice-wind swoops down slope

carrying sapphire blue scents

to my nose, my mouth

Root Glacier IX

her snarled hair

runs in glistening ribbons

ice minnows leaping

take these tresses and make them

into song, into drumbeat

like our hearts, that beat

the rhythm of our writing

we keep moving along

unending circle of work

churning, flowing, decisive

keeping thoughts flowing

keep pens moving trailing words

as ice moves, melts, flows

Root Glacier X

ice mama, birth me

underground rivers, deep bones

how do I open?

slowly. so slowly. slowly.

patiently. persistently.

mind blank, so very

blank. nothing but empty space

cold, blank, empty, nothingness

and then form, this grey body

melting, melting and melting

born again, flowing on

molecules in water bottles

carry away to places new.

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