Houston, this cluster of frost deposits
sweeping across Ontario’s coast gleam
like a Tiffany bracelet on the wrist
of a Cree maiden, her skin of dark cream
matching Akimiski’s crescent, as well
as nearby Charlton Island, which appears
a heifer-head broach. Further north’s a swell
of swirling white winter sea ice like tiers
of melting opals caught on canvas by
Pollack. That’s Polar Bear Provincial Park,
on James Bay’s western coast. I don’t know why,
but northern ice is breaking up, a stark
contrast to previous springs with a lone
white mass of land and seascape, like scraped bone.
Roger Armbrust
August 20, 2007
