Ice Breaker

The ice finally broke the morning after
as the hard hulled pilot cleared the harbour
for the 6am Viking line departure.

Waking up to that strange polyphony
of cracks and thuds,
                                frozen gulls shifting
on the window ledge to stop
                    webbed feet from freezing,
ache-eyed through the thudding
aftermath
                 of Aquavit
I picture you 
crouched 
in mid-ships, 
warm as an elk’s heart in a hunter’s hungry hands.