R.M. Carlson

ice creeps in
slick, shrouded
grim
grinding
violence

iceberg inches
plows
over the living
hard to crack
its dead heart
turning blind
a sleeted slide

waiting

water reaches
with glacial tendrils
deep
into marrow
leeches out
blood’s warmth

depths
draw ice in
adrift
beside other bodies
in a crowded polar sea
ice floats
bloated
blind

it’s forgotten
how to be human

kind

R.M. Carlson’s work has appeared in Record of Dissent: Poems of Protest in an Authoritarian Age (2025), What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On (2026), and Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (2026), all from The Chaos Section Poetry Project, as well as #MEAction’s #MillionsMissing 2026 social media campaign and Poem City 2026 (Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, Vermont). After decades away, writing has become her home—and she has a lot to say. She chronicles the natural world, social justice, chronic illness, and humanity. She extends her middle finger toward fascism.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.