NVN Saturday: MELTING OF ARCTIC SEA ICE

by Ron Shapiro

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A polar bear stands on floating sea ice in the Arctic. The bears rely on sea ice to move throughout their hunting grounds. (Image credit: SeppFriedhuber via Getty Images via Live Science.)

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'Ominous milestone for the planet': Arctic Ocean's 1st ice-free day could be just 3 years away, alarming study finds —Live Science, December 4, 2024

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Another warning,
Red flags up in the scientific
Community, sea ice melting
Faster than an ice cube on
An Arizona day. Polar bears
Shifting their weight on legs
The size of tree trunks while
Balancing on the moving chunks
Of frozen water over a million
Years old. With each piece
Of ice shrinking over time,
How will the polar bear find
Food if he can’t travel far
From his glacier home?
 
Meanwhile, land torn up,
Only a commodity in a world
Based on capitalism. Imbalance
Between humanity and the earth
Causes the dis/ease of fear, anxiety
And consumerism. What comes
From the ground is a commodity,
Something to sell, to buy, to use up.
 
The air warms the melting masses
But so far away from here, how can
Anyone care about this? No plans
For the future. Carpe Diem without
The seizing. Brain rot eats away at
Sanity and intention. Useless images
And misinformation to distract, to
Entertain, to confuse. Abstract words
Populate the language resulting in
Generalization, stereotypes, prejudice,
Bias, and ignorance. Not enough time
To think. Only to react. Tik Tok goes
The Earth’s clock. The air polluted,
The breath compromised, the ice melting,
Polar bears weeping in a cold puddle
Of water swishing at their feet.

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Ron Shapiro, an award-winning teacher, currently mentors college essay writing as well as teaches Memoir Writing through George Mason University. He has published writings in Nova Bards 23 & 24, Gatherings, Poets of the Promise, Poetry X Hunger, Minute Musings, Backchannels, Gezer Kibbutz Gallery, All Your Poems, Paper Cranes Literary Magazine and two chapbooks: Sacred Spaces and Wonderings. He lives with his wife and Shanti the Cat in Reston, Virginia.