The Arctic Circle by Susan Kay Anderson

Tipping but not falling 

a little tilt and it became creamier— 

a cave holding light. How it melted then 

and disappeared and seemed to be another river, 

clear and cold. Nobody knew what color 

to call it, clattering past huge stones, 

pancake blocks that click and stack together. 

All the tired journeys 

end here. They all fly away, among the trees 

where people, animals & birds  

carry around their hearts in a green stability. 

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Susan Kay Anderson lives in the Umpqua River Basin in Oregon. Finishing Line Press published her first book of poems, Mezzanine, in 2019, and Please Plant This Book Coast To Coast, Virginia Brautigan Aste's memoir, in 2021.  Anderson has worked as a bookseller, archeological technician, camp cook, educator, custodian (a topic in Mezzanine) and caregiver, among other endeavors.