fauxcroft

I cross a huge expanse of snow and ice

A landscape of pure whiteness,

Punctuated by snow covered mountains in the distance

The peace and quietude of that place was piercing

Only the crunch underfoot could be heard

And a very occasional crack of the ice plate trying to separate,

The sun beat down a contradictory rays

Warming slightly but the cloud of steam from our breath,

Underlined the coldness of this place

The sight of nothingness and no one was eerie,

And for all intent this alien landscape could be anywhere

On any other planet but this, our overpopulated one,

As we got back to our vessel to sail away we heard a rumble

As bassy as you’d ever hear, rumbling like a storm,

Before we saw the crumbling of the ice walls

The ice crashed in volume into the sea,

Creating waves that rocked our vessel

The whole act was astonishing and a true wonder to behold,

And all I was left with was the image

That one day this could all be gone,

Just then on a flat ice float I saw a polar bear

Searching for food, looking for fish, seal or penguins,

But as he looked at us with haunted forlorn eyes

We both knew food here was scarce,

His lack of weight testament to that

And my eyes welled up knowing,

That soon too, even the bears would be gone

I traveled away heartbroken,

But blessed to have known such a place.