The Wizard

                    for Robert Russell Calder

if rhymes were grappling hooks & his life hung

by a thread he would throw a rhyme that chimed

with a plane passing overhead   loop around

a weather vane   haul himself to safety

       with a perfectly timed swing to a rooftop

       like a beltless Tarzan impressing Jane

       dressed in a python skin his bare hands killed

       for only he’d been brave enough and skilled

can words cause impact   rhymes renew   strike chimes

that ring through time   can words heal damage

coarse sentences wrought or even suture wounds

can words save lives   magic make   alter moods  

they can     declaimed by wizards in disguise
making music from even plangent cries

 copyright  ©  Dick Russell, 2014

                       Sail Far North

        For Farley Mowat

I want to sail far north

where Vikings once were seen

rowing long ships

through Arctic seas

I want to sail into summer

until those days when sun stood still

then go farther on when days were waning

knowing each day risked more

of over wintering

never returning

deadly for some

who turned back too late

dangerous for us
we who went on

past midsummer's day

lucky we found a river
teeming with fish

so we'd survive if we gave time

for our lives depended

we hunt and fish

make provision 

to overwinter

between knowing and unknowing

sheltered under an upturned boat

how many months could we count

when days are dark

no way to count hours

when time stops still

what warmth would we have

with a wall of stones beneath our boat

what oil could we burn

assuming we could light it

when there was only moonlight

stars wheeling above

clear nights in winter

a blazing moon   bright stars

showing far horizons  fabulous places

where giant snow dragons

played in moonlight

I want to sail far north

to those far off days

when all those fabled places

had other names

copyright © Dick Russell 2014

Vinland

http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb4g1bv.html