Viking

I am 71
Lecturing
On a cruise
Ship in northern
Waters along Baltic
Coasts and Norway as
I muse on my family history
From Celts in Normandy to the
Romans Franks then Danish
Vikings mixing around the
River port of Rouen then
To the Highlands on the
Tay River in Scotland
Then across those
Appalachian Blue
Mountains down
The Ohio River
To push out
Shawnee
Refugees
From southern
Illinois then to Texas.
So I am back tracking
In Northern waters feeling
The sky color trees but most
Of all the people taciturn as
An old picnic photograph
Of faces reserved yet
Open friendly but a
Practical turn of
Mind frontier
Trained to
Say they
Stay
Where
They lay.
Luckily for
Me balanced
By Irish humor
And Jewish gentle
Patience with those
Who think they
Deserve.
Cold
Are the
Northern
Waters but
Like Kheled-zaram
Darkly beautiful to behold.
Clamping on my raven
Wing helmet I climb
Onto the stage
To tell a
Story.