• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to footer

Christoffer Petersen

Authentic Arctic Crime books and Thrillers

  • About
  • Books
    • Reading Order
  • Blog
  • Patreon
  • Foreign
    • Czech
    • Danish
    • French
    • German
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
      • A Triologia da Gronelândia
      • Crime na Gronelândia
    • Spanish
    • Meet the Translators
  • Art
  • Shop
  • Giving Back
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Greenland Crime
    • Greenland Crime Map
    • Constable Maratse Christmas Calendars
  • Greenland Missing Persons
    • Greenland Missing Persons Map
    • Greenland Missing Persons (short stories)
    • Greenland Missing Persons stand-alone
      • Crocodile Beat Map
    • Constable Petra Jensen Omnibus Editions
    • Origin Stories
  • Luui
  • Novels
    • Captain Erroneous Smith
    • Dark Advent
    • Detective Freja Hansen
    • End of the Line
      • End of the Line Short Stories
    • Greenland Undercover
    • Hazel Burnett
    • Konstabel Fenna Brongaard
      • Konstabel Fenna Brongaard Short Stories
    • Omnibus Editions
    • Polarpol
    • The Bolivian Girl
    • Wolf Crimes
  • Novellas
    • Constable David Maratse
      • Constable David Maratse (short stories)
      • Constable David Maratse Omnibus Editions
    • Guerrilla Greenland
      • Short Stories from Guerrilla Greenland
      • Guerrilla Greenland Omnibus Editions
    • Greenland SRU
    • Halloween Specials
    • Noah Lee
    • The Explorers
    • The Sirius Sledge Patrol
    • WPC Petra ‘Piitalaat’ Jensen
  • Shorts
    • Anthology (short stories)
    • Greenland Full Throttle!
    • Havoc
    • Short Stories from Scandinavia
    • The Greenlanders
    • The Witch Family Robinson
  • Sandbox
    • Fantasy
    • Kickstarter
    • LitRPG
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Science Fiction
    • Short Stories with a Big Bite
    • Speculative Fiction
    • Steampunk
  • Free

poetry

Ivory in my Pocket – a poem

November 29, 2021 by Christoffer Petersen 2 Comments

Ivory in my Pocket

© Christoffer Petersen, 2021

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.

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: greenland, poetry

Arctic Episode – a poem

November 17, 2021 by Christoffer Petersen 4 Comments

Arctic Episode

© Christoffer Petersen, 2021

Beneath the splintered crate
Mouse tracks, maybe lemmings–
Fast frozen scat, four legs
Wandering the hushed world.
Sidestep to the canvas,
Nibbles through the bedrolls,
More evidence–teeth, claws,
Sporing Arctic journeys.

Ours was a long journey,
Across oceans, bumping
Bits of bergs with our bows,
Scoring paint with ice spears,
Holding our breath behind
Blistered and cold-creased lips.
We gripped the railings, skin
Seized in cold metal clutch.

Once on land the ink froze,
Lead smeared wet notepaper,
Thwarting record keeping,
Until, observing land,
Between staking, pitching
Our heavy canvas tent,
The naked eye absorbed
All that ink omitted.

And, inside mildewed walls,
Settled but unsettled
For savage words of storm,
There –the soft scurry of
Ghost feet, pattern-pawing
The dirt beneath the crate,
Sharing our shelter in
The fabled land of north.

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: greenland, poetry

Walking Home from School (Polar Poetry)

August 17, 2021 by Christoffer Petersen Leave a Comment

Walking Home from School

© Christoffer Petersen, 2021

Legs weary, I strode up the hill, in wind,
Beyond the railing, rocks rolled to the fjord,
Splashing whipped seas, to disturb the whale hoard.

I took the road, to skirt the icy track,
But slipped all the same with sand-riddled feet,
Scrabbling for grip, I heard the ocean beast.

And then, on reaching the steps to my door,
With numb fingers pressed to cold blistered cheeks,
Sparked by husky howls, I saw distant peaks.

Home again, struck by moon-beamed ice splinters,
I squinted into the dark, hailing friends,
Asking, d’you hear it? Hear those Arctic gems?

Filed Under: poetry Tagged With: greenland, poetry, uummannaq

Footer

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Privacy Policy

Arctic Images I

Ice fishing, Uummannaq
Sledge dog team, Uummannaq
Chris & Jane, Tanana, Alaska
Uummannaq mountain, Greenland

Arctic Images II

Main Road, Uummannaq
Nansen, Uummannaq
Longline fishing, Greenland
Chris & Ninja, Uummannaq

© Copyright Christoffer Petersen. All rights reserved.

 

Loading Comments...