Our Empires melt, yet still we vie!


The ice does not split — it groans
‘Neath huge hulls of nuclear thrones,
Where Dragon’s beari and Eagle’s claw
Tear “sovereignty” to shreds of law.

Thule’s heirs in trenches bark,
Sunder myths to claim the dark.
Black gold bleeds beneath frigid floes,
Arctic lanes where agency grows.ii

We long for lands the frost denies,
Pledge flags to rock where no sun dies.
Hyperboreans, ancient, watch and sigh—
“Your Empires melt, yet still you vie.”

But pole’s white ledger bears no name,
Titans thrust, time reclaims.
Caesars wielding ice-pick swords,
Redrawing lines tides adorn.

The north, a chessboard cracked and thin,
Hides pawns of precious, kings of tin.
Destiny – that siren – sings all too clear:
“All that’s lost is mortal fear.”

Her voice’s hum through permafrost veins:
Pyrrhic stars grace Aurora‘s remains.
Axes spin, a skeletal crown,
Where claim meets void, peacetime drowns.

The ice does not split — it groans
‘Neath huge hulls of nuclear thrones.
We long for lands the frost denies,
Pledge flags to rock where no sun dies.

Our Empires melt, yet still we vie!

  1. Velina Tchakarova coined the term “DragonBear” to refer to the joint global power of Russia and China… way back in 2015!
  2. Readers interested in deeper analysis of Arctic sovereignty and the emerging 21st competition for its increasingly-tappable fortunes would be well advised to read Samo’s Bismarck Briefs on the subject:
    1. Russia’s Long-Term Bet On The Arctic
    2. The Nordic Fallback Option
    3. Canada’s Underutilized Wealth of Natural Resources