The Icelandic Canadian - 01.11.2006, Page 34

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #3
Poetry
Inuvik Remembered
by Norma Guttormson
In Spring -
mounds of longstanding snow
hug the ground
stubbornly yielding to the sun's
persuading rays.
Kids on bicycles, dripping icicles.
Houses in crayola colours
rise on stilts above the permafrost
to view the mighty MacKenzie's
breakup.
Melting and thawing muddy the streets
and the swallows return...
In Summer -
precision of everlasting time
lengthens the day
minutely pushing toward the
appearing Midnight Sun.
Kids are warm, blackflies swarm.
Days wrapped in cloths of dust
greet the mosquitoes in the air
and welcome the trusting tourist's
arrival.
Trimmings and trash litter the streets
and the river flows...