Though usually solitary sentinels,
except in gift shops,
where they line the shelves
in mute plastic mimicry,
these grey figures
cluster in groups on stone pedestals,
or stand single and alert
on the crest of a lichen patched hill.
Just past the border station
on the Top-of-the-World,
outlined against the horizon,
they are not border guards
but rather…
…tiny greeters.
Miniatures of their tundra cousins,
they balance precariously,
stone on stone on rocky soil,
bidding travellers welcome
and inviting them to
increase the population,
as so many have done before.
After 32 years teaching in rural Yukon schools, Dan Davidson retired from that profession but continues writing about life in Dawson City.
