Farley’s Arctic
I have followed in Farley’s footsteps
roaming the Canadian North
crawling through the basalt tunnels
of Echo Bay Mine
on Great Bear Lake
silver hanging in ribbons
copper laying in green-rust flakes
amid the silent fury of uranium ore.
Where a wolverine trod
On wild wicked feet outside my tent
leaving perfect footprints in fresh spring snow
beneath sparse and gangly spruce.
Caribou in spring announce their presence
by the click of their ankle bones
once heard
you are never alone again.
Where the Thelon flows
to Hudson Bay through
ocher-banded sediment cliffs
pink esker sands
sheltering muskoxen and moose
home to the barren-ground grizzly.
On Lookout Point
with feet standing in the
stone outlines of
tepees and skin lodges
stretching back ten thousand years
a pingo rises out of the tundra mist
calling me onward
deeper into the mystery
of Farley’s Arctic
~ Lanice Jones
Lanice Jones has roamed the Canadian wilderness for over 30 years. She is a daughter, mother and physician, writing for passion in her spare time.
Dear Auntie,
We loved your poem!! Mom says she is so honored to know you and to have been able to share some of your adventures. She had to explain to me that a pingo wasn’t a type of dog (like a Dingo) but a hill of ice. I’m sorry I didn’t know what an esker was either (I had to listen to long boring explainations!! I will never make that mistake again.)
Nisha
Hi, Lanice. Your dad told me of the poems – these are as fresh and passionate as the arctic, as the life you live…. very impressive.
keep those parasites coming – I want to tell Glenn all about them
xo
Vivian