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INUIT CARVER TODAY
(For Tony)

Across the narrow street
from the Tulugak Carving Co-op
in Broughton, Josephee stares
at a block of stone.  Motionless,
sitting on his doorstep,
he has been soul-searching, 
searching for the being buried
in the rock.  Dim recollections
of ancestral myths, almost forgotten
heritage from Dorset, Thule culture
stir in his blood.
      His woman appears on the doorstep.
      "I'm going to the Bay Store
      for groceries," she says.
      He hands her a roll of bills.
      She leaves.
Suddenly what he has been seeking is revealed.
He sees Nanook, the great white bear
struggling to free himself from his stone prison.
Josephee leaps up, seizes a hatchet
and begins chipping - chip, chip, chip -
chips fly, rhythmical blows clang.
Hours, days pass - gradually Nanook is being freed.
Tall, menacing, rearing on his hind legs,
the white polar bear emerges.  With a rasp,
Josephee carves the animal's features -
the angry eyes, ebony claws, snarling mouth.
Josephee sands, sands,
sands.  Finally, with his bare hands,
he polishes, rubs, polishes
the carving to satin sheen.

It is finished.
Josephee sits on the doorstep,
rolls a cigarette, lights up,
blows smoke rings into the evening air.
He is happy - Nanook is so beautiful, almost perfect.
If the carving sells, there'll be food
and drink in the house for a month.

      

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Copyright 1989 by Mildred A. Rose,

all rights reserved.
Originally published by The Music House Press.
No part of this collection may be reproduced,
except in short reviews, without the
author's permission.

Feb 07, 2012, 02:38 PM CST

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