Burning Ice by Tiel Aisha Ansari

Burning Ice

The mountains here reach higher than air
like bony fingers groping into the sky
and fleshed with glaciers. Fire is winning.
The peaks bleed melting ice, drained
by dragon rivers lined with hungry mouths
to the south and east. There is never enough.



The jealous ghosts of the Takla Makan
howl on the wings of perpetual sandstorms
smothering oases, filling in wells
erasing the faint traces of desert roads
burying houses, forcing whole towns to move
or die of thirst. There is never enough.



Brahmaputra. Ganges. Huang He. Indus.
Irrawaddy. Mekong. Salween. Yangtze.



Peace? Not while the boundary line snakes
among the peaks, ignoring the flow-lines.
Like linked fingers on opposing hands
need stretches across the border.
On both sides, there is never enough.

Sources:
Global Warming and Climate Change
Central Ganga Authority
Environment News Services