Fire and Ice (Poem)

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While waiting for my flight home, I wrote a poem inspired by the hike in Iceland. 

Fire and Ice

I wonder—


Which came first,

fire

or ice?


As I walk

across the glacier,

leaving footprints

on ancient ice,


an eerie silence

surrounds me,

broken only by the hiss of sulfur vents. 

Arctic winds carry ash and whispers

from the sleeping volcano

beneath my feet.


“Do not be fooled,”

it says.

“Before the ice,

there was fire.”


Then I think of us.

Like this glacier,

we carry old scars

on the surface,

while deep within,

our hearts still burn.


How often

we hide our fire

beneath a shell of ice—


our hopes,

our fears,

our love,

our grief.


Perhaps

we are shaped

not by fire alone,

nor by ice—


but by the journey

between them.


As I walk away,

my footprints

will vanish.


But beneath

every frozen moment,

I know

fire still waits.


Prasanta 

July, 2026











Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 12, 2026 at 4:21 PM

    Great poem Prasanta. When all the energy is spent in the universe or in our lives what emerges out of that big freeze? A new seed is already germinating, that will carry the fire.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ArundhatiJuly 18, 2026 at 1:36 PM

    loved the way you have expressed the deeper meaning of life.

    ReplyDelete

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