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John Dos Passos Coggin

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Home > My Writing > Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice

admin October 5, 2019

Last week, I got to thinking about Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” while I was at work on climate matters. Arctic melting, record high temperatures, Montana blizzard. It’s not a non-sequitur.

“Fire and Ice” does seem open to interpretation as a conception of extinction by climate change. I just finished writing a poem I call “A Polyglot Goodbye,” inspired by “Fire and Ice.” It’s a more direct consideration of extinction by climate change and what goodbye from all humankind would sound like. Sad stuff. But I found happiness in it thinking about the beauty of languages and how we say goodbye in different languages.

Especially Brazilian Portuguese. After a year of instruction in the language, I’m drawn to the lyricism and joy in it. I’ve been watching Professora Virginia’s language videos on YouTube and I love her Brazilian accent. It just makes you want to smile.

Posted in Brazil, Climate, Literature, My Writing, Politics
Tagged Brazilian Portuguese, climate change, Robert Frost, Speaking Brazilian Language School, Virginia Langhammer
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