Exit Glacier
When we got close enough
we could hear
rivers inside the ice
heaving splits
the groaning of a ledge
about to
calve. Strewn in the moraine
fresh moose sign—
tawny oblong pellets
breaking up
sharp black shale. In one breath
ice and air—
history, the record
of breaking—
prophecy, the warning
of what's yet to break
out from under
four stories
of bone-crushing turquoise
retreating.
we could hear
rivers inside the ice
heaving splits
the groaning of a ledge
about to
calve. Strewn in the moraine
fresh moose sign—
tawny oblong pellets
breaking up
sharp black shale. In one breath
ice and air—
history, the record
of breaking—
prophecy, the warning
of what's yet to break
out from under
four stories
of bone-crushing turquoise
retreating.
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Disclaimer
We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2018 by Peggy Shumaker, "Exit Glacier," from Cairn: New and Selected, (Red Hen Press, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Peggy Shumaker and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.