Member Poem

Gnaw.
Gnaw. Gnaw.
Why does the gnawing have to be so intense?
I’ve been here for eons,
Steadily holding things in place.
Gnawing cycles are not new,
They were gentle and predictable before.
This is different.
While warmer,
This gnawing is harsher and more brutal.
I am slowly coming undone,
Beneath the surface.
I can’t hold on for much longer.
I feel myself collapsing.
I’m so sorry.
I won’t be able to hold back my dear polar glacier much longer.
But it is you who will suffer the effects of my failure,
For it is your failure, too.
You, the human race.
You could have stopped the gnawing of the warming waters from carving out my insides,
But you chose not to.
Now it is too late — for me.
I will soon be gone. And my dear polar glacier?
She will spill into the ocean.
Causing your sea levels to rise even more.
Why didn’t you do something when you could?
My time on Earth will soon be over.
Will yours be too?
Or will you act to stop the gnawing of other ice shelves?
Gnaw. Gnaw.

Gnaw.