08 Mar The Colours of Antarctica

50 shades of blue alluring you deep into their depths, Is that Lapis lazuli in the crevices?

Teal at the base of the iceberg,
Baby blue sliding down the side of an ice core,
Deep rich midnight blue staring back at me from the ocean floor.

White so bright that no home decorator could find a hue with so much pride,
Sometimes packed, dense and stern,
Sometimes powdery and feeling vulnerable,
Sometimes crystal like, poking up through the sea,
Sometimes wafty and light as it falls on me.

Black rock that juts straight up to the sky,
With absolutely no apologies or humility,
As if without it, the rest of the landscape would just die.

Green algae forms pointillist graphics on the side of the glaciers and in cracks on the rocks,
While pink fungi (or sometimes penguin guano) bring softness to the masculine moss.

Rust, silver, and bronze streaks across on the peaks,
Orange, peach, and mauve are the colors of the birds’ beaks.

The hypocrite in me says don’t come to Antarctica it’s ugly as can be.
Lets just let this land of peace and science stay free.
But if you don’t see first hand the colours of Antarctica,
The way that they’re painted on the flora and fauna,
Then you have never seen colours as they most naturally are.
And from understanding the magnitude of Planet Earth, you are far.

– Anjuli