Polaris

Staggering across the frozen soil,
I watch the sun drop behind
the wood line
and I fall to my
knees.
I can no longer feel my toes,
and the soles of my shoes
have been ground to
dust.
There’s a candle in the window
of a cabin in
the dark.
Across an ice-covered lake,
a dog is barking
into a freezing wind
and the sky
awakes with a numinous
aurora.
Reflected in my watery eyes is
Polaris,
the North Star.
There’s a candle in a window
out there in the
dark.