SEVEN MEN FOR ST. MARY'S

They came be-

Cause Canada called for them

Industrious

Sons of the Norse

To hew and to haul and to quarry

To open a western course.

It happened

One month before March arrived

The winter of

Nineteen nine

When the men were taken from us,

Then placed in their shroud of pine.

The Horses

Great beasts of the Belgian breed

Their shoes clove deep

In the snow

Taking seven men for St. Mary's

Their coffins in silent tow.

The bells of

Bob sleigh and horses were tolled

one hundred

and fifty miles.

Gone were these men from their labours

From their hardships and their trials.

I spent quite a few years "with these men" tracking the site of their accident at Cross Lake.

 Imagining their journey finally made me break out in poetry .

B. Brill