Steuben Song

Steuben Song was published by Banyan Review in April 2022.

Dreaming of Steuben again
The hearth the heart the blood the bell
We smoked corn silk
We ran the hill

All the creatures laying still
The snow lay thick upon the ice
The blade cuts through
Enough to skate

We clear a circle to look through
A frozen fish’s silver eye
Looks from me to you
Looks from me to you

Carry wood to light a fire
As our ancestors survived
The sky is streaked with cold starlight
Spinning on this lonely ice

Dreaming of the sea once more
Far below the burning plane
Baptism of salt and foam
I hold you in the turning waves

Back in time the river slow
Voices echo through the woods
Horses pull till wet with steam
Sticks are snapping underfoot

Clouds amassing from the North
The fear of cold awakes the spine
To pump the blood to raise the barn by dusk
Neighbors arms are strong and just
Neighbors here are generous

Dreaming of the sea once more
Far below the burning plane
Baptism of salt and foam
I hold you in the waves

But O to skate the Steuben lake
The pulse below that Steuben lake