CADDY IN ANTARCTICA

For Caroline

I.

So tell me

about the snow

& ice

does the shocking

white

contract

your line do

your words clump

together for

a little

warmth?

Or does memory still feed the reds

that swept your land those years ago

'Fire 1' 'Fire 2° you salvoed back

as if poems could be

lines of fire

and back-

burn in the positive.

Later what

I saw

my car at the

edge of that tricky drop

was anti snow fields

of it

crusting

to your

door.

2.

And tell me

about the arctic eye

do words slide on steel as

you turn your head

cutting themselves

to the square

despite you?

Do they gather at

your feet and wait

(your body an elaborate mounting

for your eye)

until logic grips

and vaults them

round your head?

You love it

this pristine shield

this minimal feast.

Outside

huskies strain at their lines

and bark. Their throats

are hothouse flowers

in the snow.