Water in photography and poetry

Selections of water in art as cairns of my connection to water.

^ Image from Glacier Land - Iceland Photo by Manish Mamtani — National Geographic Your Shot

http://on.natgeo.com/2sJWRaI

Photographer Manish Mamtani captures the beautiful interplay of ice and fog in the photo above. To me, glaciers are one of the most fascinating forms of water and one that has become a symbol of climate change as they disappear from our planet at a frightening pace. Through the vast, almost river-like, scale of this glacier, this photo conveys the movement of glaciers as well, which is easy to forget within human timescales. As glaciers move, large pieces break off to form icebergs, as seen in the documentary "Chasing Ice," which features the largest glacier calving event ever filmed.

Water plays an endless variety of roles throughout the history of poetry and literature. I was drawn to the poem below because Dickinson highlights the connections among natural phenomena (wind and water), a theme that has only become more important the more I learn about water and the world.

I think that the Root of the Wind is Water -- by Emily Dickinson

I think that the Root of the Wind is Water --

It would not sound so deep

Were it a Firmamental Product --

Airs no Oceans keep --

Mediterranean intonations --

To a Current's Ear --

There is a maritime conviction

In the Atmosphere --

Dickinson includes a strong motif of the sounds of water, framing the connection between wind and water in a different light than I had considered.

Through these works of art, I am reminded how powerful this mode of communication can be in re-framing and transforming the ways in which we view what we know intellectually.