Tim Heerdink
Sixty-Seven Days in Utqiagvik
Twenty-four hours have passed since the great star
collapsed from its heavenly pedestal
for a sabbatical in the southern hemisphere.
Alaska deals with this phenomenon of darkness
in months when ultraviolet waves prove to be
a blessing to the freezing, destitute and alone.
Alarming numbers of suicide are reported annually
all over Seattle, where the rain falls more times than not.
Two-thousand miles north at the highest point,
I can imagine depression winning more battles.
Surviving such a prolonged period in the pitch black
calls for celebration when the flames show their face
like distant relatives back from holiday,
wondering where everyone disappeared to
during their leave of absence.
collapsed from its heavenly pedestal
for a sabbatical in the southern hemisphere.
Alaska deals with this phenomenon of darkness
in months when ultraviolet waves prove to be
a blessing to the freezing, destitute and alone.
Alarming numbers of suicide are reported annually
all over Seattle, where the rain falls more times than not.
Two-thousand miles north at the highest point,
I can imagine depression winning more battles.
Surviving such a prolonged period in the pitch black
calls for celebration when the flames show their face
like distant relatives back from holiday,
wondering where everyone disappeared to
during their leave of absence.
Biography
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Tim Heerdink is the author of three poetry collections, The Human Remains, Red Flag and Other Poems, Razed Monuments, and the novel, Last Lights of a Dying Sun. Heerdink is president of the Midwest Writers Guild. His short stories, The Tithing of Man and HEA-VEN2, won first and second place in the guild's annual anthology contests. He also has poems published in Poetry Quarterly, Fish Hook, Flying Island, Kissing Dynamite, and various anthologies. He graduated from USI with a BA in English and resides in Newburgh, Indiana with his wife, daughter, and two cats.
Website: timheerdink.com Facebook: @TimHeerdinkWriter Twitter: @THeerdink |
