Rendezvous

Grand Portage was a hubbub
of activity during the weeks of Rendezvous,
as hundreds of Voyageurs
from the interior and Montreal gathered.
There were buildings to repair,
wood to chop, canoes to mend.
What had been all a turmoil of constant water
now looked like, from the shore,
a vast blue celebration of work achieved.
Lake Superior, something of a nemesis,
was but a friend all the while,
feeding them the bottom coasting salmon
and the surprise find of gulls eggs.
Sunshine climbing over the tips
of waves was a natural artwork,
the kind that the men of men,
although they do not know it, well receive.
He took up a casked barrel of Canadian
whiskey, she a small glass of port.
Songs were sung over the glow of firelight.
The world hung in a haze of relief.