Thursday, 29 July 2010
| Silences |
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POETRY | By Saskia Maddock
I remember so clearly 1979
Outward Bound, 350 miles north of Thunder Bay
In the belly of winter
On my own...
I’m sitting beside my insignificant little fire
Catching its feeble puffs of warmth
In my cold outstretched hands
Cheerful yellow firelight flickers
Against ice-blue snow crystals
Frozen diamonds, restless, moving
The wind rattles the bones of the forest around me
As bright blue of day darkens towards indigo of twilight
Saffron red mackerel-sky clouds high above
Still reflect the vanishing sun's rays
Such fierce colours, so quickly spent
Venus winks on
The early evening light deepens the
Inky-lace outlines of trees across the clearing
Until they are sculptures, solid jet-black
Motionless in nightfall’s embrace
Darkness surrounds me, silence deafening
My heartbeat thunderous in my ears
As I struggle to understand
The sense of isolation
It’s soul touching, absolute
Suddenly I hear the faint howls of wolves far away
Gathering for a night’s hunting
Their voices goosebumping my skin
Ancient winter songs recognized in my blood
The discourses fade into the distance
I take a deep breath and
Put more wood on the fire...
I feel so small, so still
So alive...
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