The Covid 19 pandemic is isolating Alaskan writers. We can no longer attend workshops or public readings. The coffee bars where we met with other writers are closed. To bridge these physical gaps, 49 Writers is providing this on-line forum for Alaskans writing the distance. Mar Ka starts us off with her poem, “THE WAY.”
THE WAY
This winter the swamp below us,
accessed by backyard trail,
is our private, virus-free, refuge.
Iced and snowed upon, it offers
firm walking, long views
of valley, glacier, river—
a place of light and shadows
that puts into sweet perspective
our well-accumulated years.
Each day, we fill our minds, he, I,
with infinite scene variations,
against the melt we know will come,
the muddy, buzzing mess
of spring before it greens. We
are reminded of the way of things.