January Sunrise

JANUARY SUNRISE Over frozen Neva, the slowly flowing * Sun came up, big, oval and orange - glowing Off the ice-bound water bright, showing How, after the dark days of December’s night - That warmless, brightless hopeless sight - We could feel alive and thankful in the sunlight. An icebreaker shoved its way briskly through The moveless channel, enveloping itself in a hue Of misty water and ice fragments blue. Then the river fell rigid and still again As we wished and sought the sun’s domain On our chilled cheeks; but we gazed in vain Over the frozen Neva - as Franklin in distress * Must have peered endless Through the frigid night of Boothia’s wilderness. With the channel shimmering, misty rainbows Purified the air. We took the offered dose And thankful filled our lungs as the sun arose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *The River Neva is the main waterway in St. Petersburg, Russia *Lord Franklin died in 1845 exploring the Northwest Passage near the Boothia Peninsula, Canada