Antarctica

Canines of cold bite down hard Frigid daggers pierce the bones with reality Pack ice, pregnant with the dynamism of glacial creep Screaming and retching as it births its icy progeny to the Southern Ocean Relentless gales turning billows to tiny needles of ice That slap the skin to pain and then numbness Replacing the now absurd definition once held for 'hell' There can be no other than this bitter maw The scorching breath of Hades would be welcome here And yet ... Water, ice flow, land mass Even rooted far under the pack Everywhere in this seemingly hostile icescape ... LIFE ... burgeoning Blood feeds tissue and respiration Cells divide and divide again Sentience and impulse command the macrocosm Neurons fire in countless succession And the remorseless but necessary circles of nature spin on All for the primary concern - the focus of all intents: Continuance. A realm of such brutal beauty An extraordinarily merciless allure and bloom The very last place any sane creature of acumen would remain Yet it blossoms and bursts with courses and extent Even the night sky is alive with color and motility Ribbons of wonder and movement The sparkling flags of the antarctic heavens Waving for all the hearty creatures That make this gelid torment ... home.