03-21-2026, 07:34 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-21-2026, 09:50 PM by RiverNotch.)
Antarctica
Giant forms once roamed where moss and birds
are now the only life, their soles in loam
than in silt and snow imprinted, roots the roost
of moss and ferns and flowers where reds and blues
are now but glaciers stained or the sky reflected,
the birds likewise one particolored throng
spread out as one great net from coast to coast
now solitary knots and lines of drab,
pillars of wood and flesh by which the winds
had their harsh courses slowed to soft caresses
now offering no shelter, now only clouds
where leafy and hairy arms once intertwined,
and where there sparked a smile, where nostrils flared,
where eyes defiant glittered, where the spirit
brightened or dimmed according to the season,
now only these lights' source---now only stars.
Giant forms once roamed where moss and birds
are now the only life, their soles in loam
than in silt and snow imprinted, roots the roost
of moss and ferns and flowers where reds and blues
are now but glaciers stained or the sky reflected,
the birds likewise one particolored throng
spread out as one great net from coast to coast
now solitary knots and lines of drab,
pillars of wood and flesh by which the winds
had their harsh courses slowed to soft caresses
now offering no shelter, now only clouds
where leafy and hairy arms once intertwined,
and where there sparked a smile, where nostrils flared,
where eyes defiant glittered, where the spirit
brightened or dimmed according to the season,
now only these lights' source---now only stars.