Colours of Antarctica
Upon vast plains of gneiss and snow
Where bitter winds unceasingly blow
I’m told the lands are so stark and bare
No life, nor colour flourish there.
Yet still, I embrace with unguarded mind
And walk beneath the southern sky
With every step, my eyes do see
A thousand hues born of sand and sea.
The ice is never simply white;
It breathes in shades of shifting light –
Deep jade, azure and glacial blue
Each diurnal brings tones anew
O, to see the sun on clement days!
Flood the land in an umber daze
The coastline weaves a gentle glimmer
And drapes the hills in a golden shimmer.
At dusk the horizon ignites and blaze
In crimson, rose and tangerine haze
A flaunting, fervent fireworks show
While seals warble on shores below.
As the darkness falls, the sky delivers
A flowing maze of emerald rivers
Green waves lap the sable Pointelle
With splashes of mauve that rise and swell.
Then lo, anon! A steely red
A vessel that marks where sunlight fled
A fleeting bustle, then silence deep
Leaving the few for winter’s keep
Now light grows weak and spectre-thin
Summer’s palette washed by winter’s whim
Steadfast, I stand, my brush held ready
To paint the boldest colours onto canvas ebony.
