Christoffer Petersen

Aartaajik’s Challenge Song – a poem

December 8, 2021 by Christoffer Petersen Leave a Comment

Aartaajik’s Challenge Song

I hear a challenge came
flung from south to north
and I prepare my answer.
What words will I sling
Upon this great southerner?
Hunter intrepid
claiming adulterous behaviour.
He says I stole a thing
valued highly,
and I say better to
treat well those
one would keep near,
than weep when they
wander further,
as if mourning.
Ai ja ja, ai ja
Ja ai, ja ja.

And here he comes
marching, stoop walking
he drags his club
meant for my head
no doubt.
And I am here,
armed with words–
no more.
Keep your club, friend,
and tackle me mouth to mouth
with resuscitation,
like I did your wife.
Ai ja ja, ai ja ja
Ja ai, ja ja.

Yes, I’ve been naughty
I’ve been bad
But your living-widow
deserves to be touched by a man–
caressed, excited,
not possessed, nor slighted
I was the lover that loved
while the loved-one rubbed
the world the wrong way,
on the ice
in the far bay.
Guilty, I am.
Judge me.
Ai ja ja, ai ja
Ja ai, ja ja.

Taaqtumi!

December 7, 2021 by Christoffer Petersen Leave a Comment

I visited my folks in England recently. It has been almost two years since I saw them (mum and stepdad – now just ‘dad’). The last time so much time passed between seeing them was when we first moved to Greenland.

Ah, corona!

But regardless of it being a great trip, that’s not what this post is about.

Since Brexit I have stopped buying books.

I used to buy a lot of books, especially second-hand books that were out of print. But when the UK left the EU everything suddenly got really expensive, especially if I had it sent from the UK to Denmark. Anything bigger than a postcard (more or less) gets slapped with a 150,- kroner charge for the letter the Danish postal service sends when informing you of a parcel from a so-called “third country”.

Yep.

England, and the rest of the countries comprising the UK, is considered a third country.

Where am I going with this?

Taaqtumi is where I’m going!

I wanted to buy this book a few times, and I wanted it in my hands – not digital this time! So I bought it to coincide with my trip to England.

It’s a gorgeous book (full of raven illustrations) collecting several short horror stories, set in the Arctic, written by Inuit writers.

I read the first story last night.

Good story. Very atmospheric. Fun to read.

In fact, it was really fun to read.

All the Inuktitut words – very similar to Greenlandic in spelling and pronunciation – were written in italics (most of them, anyway). I had this weird sensation of reading my kind of book, i.e. the kind of book I like to read, and the kind of book I like to write. So, even though I haven’t got very far yet, I’m loving this book for a whole bunch of reasons!

Chris

Ivory in my Pocket – a poem

November 29, 2021 by Christoffer Petersen 2 Comments

Ivory in my Pocket

Eight hundred miles north
Across a shrinking desert of ice,
Is magnetic north – a wandering Pole,
Closer than my parents’ house. Such giddy latitude heights
Where I live at the very top of the Earth.

I do my best to visit – weather permitting,
Arriving with ivory in my pocket, scrimshaw,
Etched with history, carved with a hunter’s eye,
Or showing off my prized polar bear claw –
stiff knuckle hairs still bloody from killing.

I’ve seen the great beast, you know? Carpet stretched
On a curing rack in the settlements
Pinned beside the bright pink and orange towels,
t-shirts and jeans from a wind-bitten residence,
blistered paint and parched wood – winter etched.

The houses are clumped beneath the mountain,
Paths traced with hoof-footed rubber boots
From one tiny house to the next
Where children play in winter suits,
Like regular kids – laughing, shrieking, and shouting.