WHO'S AT THE
NORTH POLE NOW?

To the south looms Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat),
To another south, Ellesmere and Station Alert,
And to alternate souths, we find Franz Josef Land
And Svalbard islands, where Spitzbergen stands.

Away south, from Murmansk ... the icebreakers attack!
Their steel hulls crush down on the polar ice pack.
Nuclear Ship Arktika drives first to the Pole
To show Santa's elves a huge, cold water hole.

Other ships follow, NS Rossiya and Sibir,
Some plow through seasonally, others all year.
There's NS Ural and Sovetskiy Soyuz.
And Yamal, giving tourists an ice crushing cruise.

Nowadays, surface ships whack up the ice
Undaunted by Christmas's lightless black nights.
And submarines, hidden in darkness below,
Have nothing to stop them, where they choose to go.

The USS Hampton has met at true North
With HMS Tireless. The two subs burst forth
For their historic meeting in two thousand four.
They surfaced through cracks in the polar ice "floor."

Poor Santa, no doubt, would have suffered from shock
Had he not moved his Workshop from icecap to rock!
Santa's been watching as temperatures rose
And headed toward Thule to less risky floes.

Norway and Sweden, the UK and US,
Have joined up with Russians to finance success
And beef up safety of icebreaking ships.
With their nuclear engines, the world wants no slips!

The nations, together, will conquer the Pole
Dividing its waters with peace as their goal.
While walrus and polar bears write Santa letters
To bring them more sea ice and Arctic-like weather.