Tuesday, January 26, 2010

News at Eleven: In Antarctica, [Ron] Smith worked eleven hours a day,

seven days a week. "Work in that environment is very intense," he says. "The cold polar environment never goes away. You walk out the door, it's there. You go to the plane, it's there. Everywhere you fly, it's there. Nature dominates. Your first impression is, 'How could anybody survive in a place like this?'"

Nature dominates in Smith's poems, too, which he composed in his dorm room during his few off-hours. As a commander, he felt uncomfortable having a drink with the enlisted men at the Southern Exposure bar. But he also felt alienated from the outside world, even from his family..

from Riverfront Times: Poetry in a Cold Climate: Ron Smith found his muse in Antarctica's vast icy wilderness
also Riverfront Times: More Pictures of Antarctica and Poems by Ron Smith

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