It’s Poetry Friday!
My friend and Nevermores poetry partner, Rose Cappelli is thinking about morning mist and blue-grey sky and line breaks that guide and move poems.
She has the round up this weekend at Imagine the Possibilities.
I am a big fan of Elizabeth Rush. She writes about climate change. How our landscapes form and shape us, just as our daily choices form and change our landscapes. Her most recent book, The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth (Milkweed Editions, August 2023) captures her two months aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer, a research ship that ferried 57 scientists and crew to Thwaites Glacier, a place never before visited by humans.
Amidst the treacherous voyage through the Drake Passage, the long lab hours, the frigid weather, the reality of living for two months with strangers, Rush not only reframes what it means to care for the planet. She ponders the meaning of bringing a child into the world at a time of radical change.
I was immersed in and mesmerized by her story, the glimpses of forming a community with strangers; the fragile beauty of a faraway place; and the attempt to convey a reality that most of us don’t think about: the enormous impact a continent of ice has on our planet.
This past week, as part of the monthly poetry prompts from Ethical ELA, we were invited to send postcards from places we’ve never been.
Postcard From Antarctica
seas froth, tossed in torment
our ship pitches its way south
to the land of ice
ghostly floes choke and slow the ship
frozen islands meters thick
withstand brazen pound and crack
a splinter echoes
in surrender, succumbing
to violent blows
Thwaites burns, surreal
a misty mirage towers on the horizon,
holds in her power
sky and sea and our planet’s future
©draft, Patricia J. Franz
Patricia Franz writes picture books and poetry. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
That line, “holds in her power” feels fraught with danger, and it makes me wonder how many are really paying attention. I watch some of the stories on the weather channel, especially when they show the very isolated communities, so dependent on the ships getting there with needed supplies. Thanks for the book title, too, Patricia, all new to me and noted!
Very interesting, Patricia! Thanks for taking us to chilly Antarctica to think about our planet’s future from another perspective.
Patricia, the book, The Quickening, sounds fascinating, and no wonder you can write like you were really there. Your poem is “ghostly floes,” “misty mirage,” and “a splinter echoes” make me learn new things about Antarctica. I don’t even know if I’ve ever heard of Thwaites Glacier. I need to read that book.
I have been to Antarctica. Just on a cruise ship. For the shortest of times. But I will never be the same. It is a place of immense beauty and contrasts. It carries that splintering echo on a cushion of silence. Every time I am taken back, by photos, poetry or words… I want to GO back. Gah. The yearning. Antarctica is the full enormity of God’s splendour. Exquisite.
I love all the long “o” sounds in the second verse. You’ve done a remarkable job of recreating that environment without ever having been there. It just goes to show how books can take us anywhere. Thanks, Patricia!
Powerful! I, too, noticed all the long O sounds.
The assonance and long o sounds are really gorgeous!
Wow! A powerful poem. I am drawn to the ending “holds in her power
sky and sea and our planet’s future”.
So many gorgeous, powerful word choices and sounds throughout this poem. You really captured a sense of the magnitude and importance of this unique place.
Beautiful poem, Patricia. I especially like this line, “ghostly floes choke and slow the ship.” The word choke is powerful. I was unaware of this author and book you shared. I do a fair amount of reading on climate change (makes sense due to my role as an environmental educator). I will add the book to my list. Have you ever read the book Endurance? It’s worth a look too. Thanks.
I have often sat and thought about the fact that I have brought a child into a world with a deeply and sometimes frighteningly uncertain future. It is something that sits uneasily with me, and I’m still unsure how to reckon with it. I suppose many generations of mothers facing uncertain futures have sat with similar thoughts.
Powerful, Patricia.
As others noted, I was struck by the strength the repeated O sounds conveyed.
Wow – the word that also came to my mind immediately was POWERFUL as well. Much time and thought went into this poem. And thanks for turning our attention past our own immediate surroundings to look at the big (uncertain) picture this week.