While the blue northern ice
melts into the sea
We sit in the dark together alongside Polar bear.
on the tundra’s newly blackened soil.

The Inuit have seventy-four words for sea ice.
We name what we see
to navigate
and so
we are collecting new words
for tears
and ignorance.

Sitting still
we gather
in the dark
seeking new ways
to navigate these rising waters.
The old word we cannot lose
is most treasured,
we must keep saying to each other:
together.