April Iceberg Off Bragg's Island

Lesley Choyce
From:   Beautiful Sadness. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, 1998.

April Iceberg Off Bragg's Island
from a print by David Blackwood

The hand of God has hacked this ship
from eaves of ice that roof the world
and now it floats in silent strength
reminding me of the cold, blind force
that shapes our lives and feeds our fears.

We row at night in boats to feel
the new blue light of moon and ice
beneath this cold and ancient dream
that wants to test our own beliefs.
It almost seems like holiness
to stand this small beneath these cliffs,
these vaulted walls of winter white.

You feel the weight deep down inside
like thunder or extinction's calm.
Had I the heart
I'd climb the sides
to meet the moon
and leave a harsh and ragged land
to float off south to other seas
till nothing's left but warmth
and waves.

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Lesley Choyce's works copyright © to the author.