A glacier is drawn

By Paula Sankelo

I.
A glacier is drawn

into wakefulness

a cat from slumber:

elastic against the warm rock

she flattens her midriff

stretches her paws further out

to the sea.

From her breast, a rumble is heard.

II.

A glacier is drawn like a bow.

Released

ten thousand winters

discharge

in the churning water

next to a fresh-cut, turquoise slab

a young walrus blows an explosive breath.

III.

A glacier is drawn

like a shabby stage curtain

across the fjord. When it drops

a play starts, where we

dance unless we drown.

IV.

A glacier is drawn

on canvas, displayed

with wonder: such towering blessings

we had.

Paula Sankelo lives in Longyearbyen. An environmental researcher by profession, she currently works as an editor in a Finnish culture journal Elonkehä, and as a receptionist in Svalbard museum. She published her first poetry collection in August 2024 (Warelia, Finland). The poems published here are selected from this collection and translated by the author.