I love thinking about why my compass points north.
The deep, molten-metal motions, rising
And falling … gargantuan currents of iron
Conceiving vast magnetic fields, revealed
In my hand, by a tiny, quivering red needle.
Even more deliciously disturbing:
The field has been changing; the north pole is wan-der-ing
Towards Siberia, of all places – like a fading,
Frost-bitten explorer, staggering wide curves through the snow.
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Further reading:
Satellites show magnetic field in decline, Nature
Earth’s magnetic field is fading, National Geographic
This is one in a series of poems written by Katherine Allen, a researcher in geochemistry and paleoclimate at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University
