Tanzanite Dreams
Brisk is the unfurling of the red tourist carpet
As the latest group of passengers disembark from the season’s big ships
To flood the Southeast Alaskan destination du jour.
Locals dress in costume; gold rush characters and dance hall girls
Offer 1898 and a Starbucks to go,
Even the grand Golden North appears to have sold her soul.
There are nearly as many jewelry stores as there are t-shirts
In this northern carnival town.
Where in Alaska is Tanzanite actually mined?
And does Little Switzerland sponsor local school events and activities?
Roll up the carpet at the end of a summer day and listen to the wind
Where the only authenticity is heard in the signs of establishments
Swaying and creaking from weather-crusted chains,
Whispering the stories of those who have tried their luck here,
While the blue-lavender mountains look down knowingly.
-Kersten Christianson
Sitka, Alaska