Arctic Story

Flew the dark,
                       now day floods my eyes shut.
some ago,
                       those eyes strained 'gainst ink
of night,
                       as green grey curtains shimmered
                       dull above yellow southern star.

        Crossing Baffin,
                       I sought dim lines of land
                       among the shadow, one lone human light
                       shone within the vastness.
        Greenland glowed grey,
                       softly blurred beyond the
                       arc of earth.

All the while,
                       my ears clung long to
                       stories of resourceful cast-offs
                       striving to survive their slum
                       upon a Mumbai sewage shore.