Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

LOOKING WEST AT ASH RIVER POINT

A Villanelle for Voyageurs National Park


The water calls. Loons, white birch, and pines
converse through wings and branches softened
by rain found only here in Northern climes.

I came from South and West, from other lines
on maps that never tell you what is offered
when water calls the loons, white birch, and pines.

Mirrors from the sky. A blue sublime.
Ojibway trails and wolf tracks criss-cross often
through rain found only here in Northern climes.

Among the berries, bears, and pools of time
we're shown our own startling true reflection:
Water calling. Loons, white birch, and pines

remind us of our wings and roots (not minds
or dollars spent at money-hunger's trough) and
rain calls us close to Northern climes.

An eagle's nest and lily pads are what we'll mine
long after ice has covered all the region.
We'll summon water, loons, white birch, and pines
who reign up here in rain-washed Northern climes.

 

Christine Hemp
Poet-in-Residence, August 1996
Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

 

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