When in the Arctic

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
When in the Arctic, think as the Inuit think.

For the love of furthering trade,
Bringing fame to the British throne,
Or for sheer knowledge and adventure,
Whatever the reason, 129 brave souls
On HMS Erebus and HMS Terror
Challenged the Arctic in 1845 -- into the unknown.

This inhospitable place, unpredictable and unforgiving,
Blowing torturous needles into every pore of your skin,
Freezing every bit of fluid in your head,
Turning your eyelashes into icicles,
Slowly carving your flesh with frostbites,
Torturing your spirit with nothingness but ice.

Would you stay aboard your boat locked in ice?
Would you go down with it and get mummified?
Or would you abandon ship and trek hundreds of miles
Against the devilish cold, hunger, exhaustion,
Derangement and cannibalism -- witnessed by the Inuit --
Until the last man standing kissed the ice himself?

And so the stories of restless ice ghosts were told,
Their locations passed on -- generations to generations --
‘Til the white men finally believed
Almost two hundred years too late.

So when in the Arctic…
Think as the Inuit think.
MLJ/23March2019