SPIRIT

Photo/collage by S. Auberle

Only images, not words are coming
from my Alaskan trip, so I use others'
words which convey so beautifully what
I want to say:

A land not mine, still
forever memorable,
the waters of its ocean
chill and fresh.

Sand on the bottom whiter than chalk,
and the air drunk, like wine,
late sun lays bare
the rosy limbs of the pinetrees.

Sunset in the ethereal waves:
I cannot tell if the day
is ending, or the world, or if
the secret of secrets
is inside me again.

- Anna Akhmatova