Ecosystems of the Arctic Circle

Mary Morris

Ecosystems of the Arctic Circle

The horizon is a procession of ice.
Blood flows inside the warm hut of the body.
The body is a place.
Something can crack the ice in you,
integrate a passage, permit torrents.
Elk crossing tundra, silver king
leaping upstream.
 
There comes a point when you listen to water,
all the liquid of the world, the way waves break
and then the baby comes.
A healthy boy, large as a salmon,
attaches like a barnacle.
Sweet milk.
Underneath us—bear fur, hides of reindeer.
Yesterday, I was one.
Today, we divided like a cell.

MARY MORRIS is the author of the recent book of poetry Enter Water, Swimmer, published by Texas Review Press through Texas A&M University Consortium. Her poems are widely published, appearing in Poetry, Poetry Daily, Boulevard, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, The Massachusetts Review, and Rattle. She received the New Mexico Discovery Award and the Rita  Dove Award for Poetry, and was invited to read at the Library of Congress, a performance which aired on National Public Radio. Her website is www.water400.org.