This is a reflection of my great interest in The Lost Expedition of Captain Franklin in the Arctic in 1845 when 132 officers and crew disappeared.~~~~~

The Erebus

Interrupted moonbeams
dance on icebergs
and trail their milk-white
fingers in icy sea
accompanying emerald
rhythms of the Borealis.

The blue-white stage
emits a ghostly hue,
evanescent and lambent
by turns. In the vast silence,
glaciers tower like cathedrals
in the midnight sky.

Aboard The Erebus,
an old salt, inured to the show;
stamps his feet,
breathes warmth
into his calloused hands
anticipating hot tea,
unwitting of his fate.

© Grace Galton 14th May 2006