Page 23 - NewsandViews 2023 whole publication

At the Arctic Circle Sarah Early

Living on the Arctic Circle,
Snow and ice for half the year.
We hire a snowplough to get to work.
We pay a fine if we forget our winter tyres.
Tourists aren’t prepared, and they have accidents.

As Spring emerges, even locals may perish in sudden avalanches.
One unhappy farming family died, as they were swept into the fjord below.

In the summer we cannot sleep.
For there is no night. Subject: Mamakitty!©️
Just a 24-hour day. Sarah Early
And if it’s hot,

There’s no darkness to give relief.

My tortoiseshell cat is a feisty cat
Some neighbours are up all night:
She patrols her territory well.
Mowing the grass, hanging the washing, just chatting.

Then they celebrate the solstice with noisy parties.
Whenever she senses a stranger near

She runs out --- and she gives them hell!
Other neighbours are silent.

They may be older, or ill,
Birds and butterflies, bees and moths
Or simply exhausted by the relentless light.
They know to respect her laws.
Desperate for a good night’s sleep. If they get too close they risk their lives
For they'll face her terrible jaws.
So … a kind of madness develops.
Night is Day and Day is Night. Until one day a baby rat ---
All teeth, and aggression, and hate.
Humans were not designed for this! Got in her way, and wouldn't submit.
Our circadian rhythms need to flow freely. So that poisonous creature, she ate!
We need to rest in silence for at least six hours out of the 24,
So that our brain and body can repair itself. But she suffered terribly for her greed,
For rats carry poisons vile.
Out of these unnatural conditions
the Nordic countries have built a unique culture: She couldn't eat. She couldn't drink.
The genius of Greig and Sibelius.
My poor dear cat nearly died!

September 2023 (after my cat spent 5 days
and 4 nights in kitty hospital)

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