Vis Gelu - the Power of Ice
Ice is the strangest substance
upon this earth then yet it
is seen as insignificant by
many.
It forms from water-droplets
within clouds, flowing rivers
and even in oceans where energy
is forever in motion.
It floats when it should sink;
density is transformed from heavy
to light even though the chemistry
remains unchanged.
It falls ever so gracefully in the
form of snow then yet wind transforms
it into a violent blizzard.
Every snowflake differs but its
crystallization is aided by
particles in the air, either natural
or man-made; it is said thunder
is created whenever they bombard
one another creating bursts of energy
transforming a cloud into a bubble of light.
Mountains become its home where it
fills crevices that adorn jagged peaks.
It twists and turns creating a deep
bowl-like hollow; a cirque is thus
created.
Seasons go by and snow continues to
fall surviving the short summer
thus the snow transforms to firn and
néve as pressure increases compacting
past layers of fallen snow.
Time passes slowly; the snow has now
become ice.
The mountain is no longer its home
for the cirque has been breached –
a glacier has formed.
The power of gravity exerts itself
onto the river of ice making it flow
downstream.
The steep mountain-sides and once
v-shaped valleys become victims of
the erosive power of the glacier bed;
picking up rocks and boulders of
unimaginable size transforming it
into sandpaper.
As time goes on the mountain scenery
changes ever so slowly as the glacier
retreats back into the womb of its
creation.
The valleys become u-shaped, rivers
and lakes dominate the scree covered
land where plant-life invades the
now bare soil; and layers of rock
exposed displaying the elements
of time.
The power of ice may be hidden but
its creations are all round us,
beautiful and enchanting.
Copyright © Leighann Anderson | Year Posted 2011
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