Lake Volga

today the Russians drilled through ice
of twenty million winters
with iron bit as dense as space
to touch an ancient lake

underneath what muted fishes swim
and what amoebas dance
through water thick with
years and dreams of light

four thousand miles away
the snow collects
in corners of my windowpane-
cold, rare symmetry

to know of all that ice
and the long drop into darkness
I am made more small
smaller, and more free

Katie Lott Schnorr lives on a farmstead in Southern Door County with her husband and two daughters. She spent childhood summers in Ephraim, and 12 years ago she left the city and found her way back home to Door County. Katie is also a singer and is currently working on her debut jazz CD.