[35] The Cold, Quiescent Eye, Marion Boyer

 

Winter Solstice in Antarctica

In the still air
between the ice sheet
and clouds

diamond dust sifts down
and particle by particle
adds to a weight

so colossal
it deforms the sphere of Earth.

There is a grief arid as this
antiseptic     numb

Airglow, dim constellations,
moonlight, and the Milky Way—

all eclipsed. In absolute dark
the ice dome, like a great cornea,

stares outward, unmoved.