Glacier Bay

Awakening gently to mist on the ship,
We drifted through shadows of white.
The ice towers hovered, then suddenly slipped
Eliciting human delight.

While Margerie Glacier stood ghostly and blue,
The great Grand Pacific was dirty in hue,
They entered our memories then slipped out of view,
Carving our present and history too.

Our morning well started, we rounded Point Jaw
Where mountains climb tall o’er the sea.
Their glassy reflections did fill us with awe
(...and so did the seals whose skin never thawed
as they wriggled on icy bits simply because
the water was perilous with Orca jaws,
though these creatures we never did see!)

Now tooth, claw and blood were high on our minds
As we searched all the landscape for beasts.
And all before dinner six bears did we find
(Though on grass and not flesh did they feast!)

Then miles out from shore our man Lee gave a shout
“There’s black shapes a running, and fast!”
Through the scope we did peer as the ship turned about,
And William cried “Black wolves, at last!”

They jumped and they pounced, two adults and cub
Moving from gravel to forest and scrub
Pirouetting silhouettes, black as the coal,
Glimpses of wildness in form and in soul.

A flurry of happenings ended our day,
On wine, fudge and salmon we dined
Then Puffins and humpbacks arrived just to say
That life in Alaska is fine.