Crushed in the Ice, by Grace Massey

Sealers Crushed By Icebergs, by William Bradford (USA). 1866.

Crushed in the Ice
  
They sailed too far through seas of blue ice
jagged peaks soaring above
the mast, blocking the wan sun.
A thousand Circes urged them on
until one night they were trapped, 
ice moaning,
open water black and far away,
the ship listing, slowly being crushed. 
 
Later, did they think 
Of sunlight on the deck as it broke apart, 
groans of the dying ship, the monstrous ice grinding?
Did they recall their screams as feeling returned to frozen limbs
the stinking rag between their teeth as blackened fingers
were cut away?
 
Were they wiser for it, crumbling soft white bread 
into their mouths just for the pleasure,
holding the baby close and cradling its warm milky head?
Or did they long to return?

Grace Massey

Grace Massey has been a writer and editor for over 30 years and has studied classical ballet for almost as long. She lives in Newton, MA, with her husband and cat, and texts daily with her daughter, a romance novelist.