meltwater by Alyssa Martens

August 10, 2023
Poem title: meltwater Poet name: by Alyssa Martens Poem: if you listen— be still a rhythm begins to stir look a waterfall emerges beneath a silent coat within ice caves Glacier carves gallery rooms this is vast— listen do not resurface stay— all this will morph before we make sense— touch this we enter somewhere soon called a place feel these rocks restless as we are this is where change begins: in the space we imagine irrelevant can you hear Glacier melt? End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Alyssa Martens Forthcoming in publication elsewhere. Alyssa Martens (she/her) is a poet, curator, and writing facilitator living and working on the unceded and ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, colonially known as Vancouver, Canada. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, her work navigates themes of migration, ecological grief, loss, and definitions of home. Her forthcoming debut poetry collection, “all the while, we melt,” mourns the loss of Arctic ecosystems from an eco-feminist worldview. She regularly facilitates poetry and non-fiction writing workshops with audiences of all ages, and has taught creative writing through ThriveYouth Development Canada, Megaphone Magazine, Arts & Health: Healthy Aging through the Arts, Sierra Club BC, the Bolton Academy of Spoken Arts, and the University of British Columbia.