Heed The Longship's Swimming Tongue

It said, ‘Lie down
in the word-hoard, burrow
the coil and gleam
of your furrowed brain.


Compose in darkness.
Expect aurora borealis
in the long foray
but no cascade of light.

Keep your eye clear
as the bleb of the icicle,
trust the feel of what nubbed treasure
your hands have known.’

--From Seamus Heaney, "North."