The darkness
Snow petrels glide on the brisk Antarctic easterly, circling above the Anchorage Island crosses.
The rising sun illuminates forlorn ice bergs trapped on the horizon in a state of suspended animation by the expanding sea ice.
The temperature is dropping, days are getting shorter. Shadows cast remain elongated.
The eastern flanks of the ice bound bergs morph from pastel pink and peach to lavender and crimson as they glow in the final rays of the disappearing sun.
Winter is approaching, the darkness is coming.
Bleak is the forecast.
Days are short and cold, the petrels, skuas, penguins and seals are long gone, two emperor penguins appear fleetingly, alas they too abandon us and waddle off into the distance leaving us, the silly humans, all alone in this frozen expanse.
The darkness has arrived, the sun threatens to rise but can only just barely show its face as if peeking above the horizon.
The dark sky plays host to countless stars as coloured lights twist and turn before them like ballerinas performing interpretive dance to the sound track of The Beatles ‘Across The Universe’.
The darkness is upon us.
Embrace the darkness for the light will return.
And along with it, all of the animals.
