Elderhostel Kotzebue Sonnet

In June 1997 I took an Elderhostel trip to Kotzebue, Alaska, above the Arctic Circle.  We learned all sorts of skills from our host's  native Alaskan friends, including the great salmon catch, where we took the fish from the nets, cleaned them and hung them to dry on what looked like large old-fashioned clothes drying racks.    

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A Kotzebue Sonnet

The salmon run and never seem to stop.

We pull them from the sea in giant nets.

As lead line sinks, the float line rides on top.

We fish below a sun that never sets.

We chop off heads and then dissect the spine.

Our ulus* dive and tear through bloody fish.

We hang them up and say “they sure look fine!”

And smack them down for dinner’s tasty dish.

The next day on the tundra we see fruit,

And salad plants that grow on permafrost.

We munch upon the Arctic’s tasty loot,

Which seems to be devoid of bloody cost.

Is veggie life what I am headed for --

Or will I always be a carnivore?

Written at Kotzebue, June 1997

(c) 1997, Joan D. Levin

* The ulu is a special knife, usually made from a saw blade.  The semi-circular blade is usually set in a bone handle.