The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2004, Blaðsíða 38

80
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #2
Poetry
by Douglas Henderson
An Icelander awaits in ambush in my blood --
a quarrel with me means both fire and glacier.
Harsh and unforgiving,
beyond the limits of understanding.
an Icelander awaits in ambush.
Forget those stolid Lutheran or Unitarian
fishermen from Gimli,
or the dynasty from within that controls
Eaton's.
An Icelander awaits in ambush
Fickle, fey and remorseless,
we burn each other's homesteads
in the Sagas,
laughing all the while.
An Icelander awaits in ambush —
we can't help it, you see.
All or nothing on the cast of the dice.
Argumentative and petulant,
a dark surgeon
at the bottom of my genetic pool.