To Greenland

To Greenland

by FlatDaddy

I’ve been there, North to South
and even in the middle.
And it’s beautiful

From Oaanaaq, which we call “Thule,

The Frozen North ,Top of the World,

We flew on helicopters
     to see three glaciers crashing together
     making sounds like cannons
     singing to the clouds
          where thunder broke glaciers into ice cubes
               for the “la de das”
               who could afford it

(They thought it was cute the way it fizzed and bubbled as the ice melted. Something to do with air escaping as the ice melted and decompressed. The rich always want something that’s cute. )

We flew in planes on skis
     to the Dew Point
     on the Ice Cap
     to entertain the troops there
          who went crazy
          because there was a girl in our band.

There’s an old saying in Greenland
     they tell new troops coming from America:
     “Don’t worry, boys,there’s a girl behind every tree here.”
     Then they say,:
          “But there ain’t no trees in Greenland.”
               It’s supposed to be funny.
               the double negative doesn’t seem to bother them.
(Yes, America already had a lot of troops in Greenland because we like some of their stuff. Just like fizzy martinis.)

Then we went to the Southern tip.
     It was supposed to be warmer
     But I didn’t think so
          I’m from Texas.
          I don’t care if you’re from New York or Maine,
               You would think it’s cold, too..
One night, we were sitting around the rec room
     Just jawin’ with the guys
     And somebody burst through the doors and yelled,
          “They’re out!”
          The room exploded!
     Everyone grabbed their coats and yelled, “Come on!”
          They made us close our eyes,
          and hustled us into a Six-By
          which is like an olive green pickup truck on steroids
          complete with a tastefully-matching canvas top over the pit.
     When we were all inside, they pulled the canvas “door” closed
     so we couldn’t see.
     It was very dark in there
     but I could see gleaming Cheshire Cat grins all around me
     and everyone were quite excited
               I worried for a few minutes
               it was some kind of cruel initiation
               to welcome us into their gang
                         although we should be gone soon ..
     But on we drove, until we were
               well away from the base.
               A sudden stop and someone shouted,
              “Visitors close your eyes!”
               We did as commanded and were helped down
                      and herded over an icy surface
                         ‘til someone said, “Eyes Open!
                As one, we screamed with delight:
     The Northern Lights were out!
               The entire sky was aglow in swirling colors
               of green and blue, red and purple, even yellow, I think,
               All extremely bright, like neon lights being waved around
               by Apollo and Juno and all the other gods up there
               in a bacchanalian party they were throwing just for us!
     There was complete silence. Then
               “Oh, my God,” someone whispered
               Whispers, it seemed, were all that were allowed
               lest the gods discover we were watching their party

We were treated to much more, this ragged group of musicians
     hired by Uncle Sam to entertain the fellows
     who worked so hard to keep America safe from villains who might try to invade the U.S.
              by climbing over polar bears and fighting Arctic Big Foots in terrible blizzards
                        to try to catch Uncle Sam with his pants down.

——————————————————-

Other niceties awaited us: a US band sent over by the USO (look it up) to entertain the troops: a hike up a mountain to dig garnets from the frozen earth, where I came nose to nose with a caribou who had climbed up the other side of the mountain and I almost fell off the mountain; then fishing for enormous, delicious fish who jumped out of the river right onto our dinner plates; native Eskimos (we called them), who lived in some small village in the “out there,” who made pilgrimages to the base to sell beautiful things they had made from the ivory of critters they had caught. I still have a tiny Eskimo on a silver necklace that I wear sometimes, but I have to be careful; I’ve already broken one of his arms, so he looks like the guy Harrison Ford was chasing in “The Fugitive” wearing a fur hoodie.

Everyone was very nice to us. The Danes who ran the place and the American US Air Force airmen stationed there could not have been more grateful to have us play for them. It was the most enjoyable time of my life. Greenland, I love you. Thank you so very much.

And President Trump, please let Greenland just be Greenland. We need them as friends and neighbors. If they have something we need, work out a trade agreement. Force isn’t necessary to get what you want. Friendship goes a long way.