I AM GREENLAND, a poem

I AM GREENLAND

by Josette Abruzzini

I am Greenland - Earth’s largest island -

a bed of rock supporting and cradling an ancient icy carpet.

Cherish my majesty.

I am Greenland, crowned in glimmering glaciers, frozen for eons,

my monumental mile-high sheets of ice melting, calving into echoing fjords,

dripping into mighty oceans.

Take heed as I spill onto distant shores.

I am Greenland, a coastline longer than Equator’s length

edging endless fields of ice that vanish into mystical horizons;

my eerie fog, cutting sleet, and blinding blizzards causing chaos.

Beware my angry moods.

I am Greenland -  

my cold briny seas of polar bears, salmon, seals,

my frozen lands of snow hare, musk ox, reindeer,

my fragile flowers and long-suffering birch

bending, wrestling, persisting amid hostile elements.

Notice my resilience.

I am Greenland, North America,  

my Pre-Cambrian ridge, submerged,

tethered to a western continent less than a marathon away –

Ellesmere, Canada.

We are ancient kinfolk.

I am Greenland – Inuit and Dane claiming long legacies, building new ones,

living peacefully, century in, century out for our common good,

fending and defending our dignity to all the world.

Honor our flags.

I am Greenland -  

a base for brave explorers,

a peacemaker in troubled times,

a steppingstone bracing continents in a changing world.

Consider me a friend of the free.

I am Greenland.

Marvel as I unveil my splendors to geographers,

to steadfast scientists and eager sight-see-ers,

as they come and chronicle and come again,  

exploring me, sharing me, loving me.

Protect what you love.    

I am Greenland, a blushing bride in a vanishing gown,

rare Earth hiding in my core,

salty seas unspoiled.

I am possessed by all my people,

yet not by one man, woman or child.

Be kind to me.

I am Greenland -

an unknown seed lying dormant ‘neath the ice,

 waiting for a warmer day to come to life.

 Will I grow in an undreamt paradise?  Or upon a pock-marked rock?

 Or will I wither, never seen?

 Let my seed grow.

I am Greenland, with whispers of a new world order

of secret armed vessels and silent white armies,

of future frontiers across a melting sea.

With time… fame and fortune will turn hollow.

Respect me as you claim your prize.

I am Greenland.

My waters are your waters, my planet is your planet.

My future is your future.

I am every legacy and every human fingerprint.

I am Greenland. You are Greenland.

We are Greenland.

as published in the Spring 2025 edition of Voices from the Ice, a digital publication of the American Polar Society.

American Polar Society has served since 1934 “to unite the people and institutions from around the globe and pole to pole to further knowledge, understanding, appreciation and celebration of the Arctic and Antarctic land, oceans and ice.” If you have an interest in all things Arctic, consider joining! It shares news of exploration, scientific projects, and arts and culture related to the North Pole and South Pole.

If you wish to read my reflections on this poem, click here. To learn more about the ideas presented in I AM GREENLAND, please visit these resources at Brittanica and/or Arctic Institute. Share the poem as you wish. I hope that it fosters respect for the people and resources of Greenland, and that it promotes deeper understanding.

Josette Abruzzini is an educator, writer and poet who builds bridges and nudges perspectives. She's a native Canadian, and a naturalized American citizen who visits her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador at every opportunity!