snow and reflections on water in Paradise Harbor

—& it is. Peak-ringed, milk-clouded, a studded shimmer. Then flaw. Some other ship anchored. Who? Queries rise. Who? Shocked, curious, faced with a parallel yet unable to compare. Their Zodiacs cruise ice. Their people climb the hill above Base Brown we won’t climb today. On the summit, someone with long, pink ribbons stuck to sticks cyclones them. Who? Steward in love with her own quirk? Stare. Sneer. Pine. This is Paradise. Argentine flags paint every roof. Claim in a land that sheds all claim. Malachite smear on cliff = profitable extraction potential. Copper carbonate hydroxide. So, flagged despite Treaty & tradition. Focus on cliffside nesting blue-eyed shags. Precarious. Bowls basted to small ledges. Chicks nearly overspilling, huge compared to the just-hatched of Jougla. Not much about shags from explorers. Why?
azurite eye
deeper, more keen than ice
aware, unwary

[2] Malachite and azurite are both minerals produced by the weathering of copper ore deposits. Malachite Cu(OH)2 is more oxidized than azurite CuCO3, thus is therefore more oxidized. Increased oxidation is what causes the color change. The actual formula for the conversion includes the addition of a water molecule and the release of a carbon dioxide molecule.

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