Dave Kiffer - Alaskan Poet, Historian, Humorist

  SOUTHEAST LOG 1-23-21 SIRI saves HAINES - Funny Farm manager Mark Kelly has SIRI to thank for being alive. Kelly was working on a woodpile at the lodge on Mosquito Lake Road when it the pile collapsed on him earlier this month, burying him under several feet of ice, snow, and wood. He was unable to move, but he used SIRI to voice dial his phone in his pocket and call for help. THE CHILKAT VALLEY NEWS Decorations will stay up PETERSBURG - Officials say the colorful community Christmas decorations will remain lit, possibly through the end of February. Officials said the lights are a "bright spot- for the community. THE PETERSBURG PILOT Wolves hoopsters active SITKA - The coaches of the SItka high boys and girls basketball teams are hopeful for a successful season. Both teams took the court last week for the first time in nearly a year. They will have a reduced season this year, playing teams from Ketchikan, Juneau and Mount Ed...

  I MISS HUDSON NEWS We cannot travel. If we do, we must Test, shove a stick up  Our noses, and Then quarantine. And then test again, Quarantine again. So, we just stay home. I wish I could Risk the concourse, See the world. I could eat  A whole meal At Hudson News.

  PIVOT   My mother used to remind me That the world didn’t revolve around me But she was wrong   I am the center of my world Everything revolves around the fulcrum I am the pivot point   Each of us is The center of our worlds It could not be otherwise   But that means that there Are eight billion fulcrums To consider   The rain that is falling on me today Is falling on everyone else Including you   That is what she meant That, and, the weather will be better, Tomorrow.    

  WORDS TO GO   I doubt I will be Looking at the wallpaper Or thinking much About Oscar Wilde   Or pondering the shiny pebbles Instead of Sir Isaac's Ocean of Truth   Perhaps rising fog Will gather my Attention as it Did with Emily.   We have a lifetime To set up our exit In hopes that We can deliver.   But most do not. If I get the chance A wink and a sigh Will have to do  

  B'ANSEO AN SCARADH   Your great, great, great grandpa Lived in a world without cars Without planes, without electricity, There were no computers, radio or television to tell him what to feel, There was the only the need to go on   B'anseo an scaradh This was the separation The point where hunched backs Went on up the road To the top of the gap And disappeared, forever   You are getting on a plane, It is, and is not, the same Because you will call us, Our phones will buzz with Your texts for more money, You will come back, eventually   B'anseo an scaradh This was the separation The point where hunched backs Went on up the road To the top of the gap And disappeared, forever   We live in a world in which "forever" is an exaggeration, An exclamation point Meant to guilt someone Into coming back, again   B'anseo an scaradh This was the separation The point where hunched backs Went on up the road To the top of the gap And disappeared, forever   His mo...