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Approaching Ice: Poems

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The arctic has more to it than just huge glaciers. "Approaching Ice" is a collection of poetry from Elizabeth Bradfield, as she focuses on her trip to the arctic circle, serving as a crew's naturalist and what she gathered from her trip. Drawing on her own interests in polar literature, "Approaching Ice" is a fine choice and recommended read for poetry lovers looking for something with a different flavor. "On the Longing of Early Explorers": Before satellites eyed the earth's whole surface/through the peephole of orbit, before/we all were tracked by numbers trailing from us/like a comet's tail -- O if only,/they'd say in quaint accents and obscure/sentence structures -- if only the unsullied/could be discovered, if only, once found,/it could speak its own nobility and let us empathize. Poignant, the despair that itched/beneath their powdered wigs, their longing to touch/the unspoiled, their sense that the world was already ruined.

You don't need to be a history buff, a fan of polar exploration, or an inhabitant of wild places to read these well-crafted, subtle poems, but if you are one of those, you'll be even more astounded by this poet's combination of smart and heart.