Northern

last winter winter lied: lasted
             beyond shotgun
             riding shotgun

no wind, a listless ship
arrested on a crueler beach
             (birch-silver, stony shore)

             all anchored save
the swelling ice which spoke
and spoke it stiller
             which broke
             the ice-held hull

from there the ocean lasted

Published under the name Jeanette Karhi in Poetry Salzburg Review, Autumn 2005, No. 8