The Ocean Canvas
Newton, MA
2020, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
We have painted the world
with our ugly plastic
spilled oil over the waves
glazing over, seemingly harmless.
We have blotted out the curve of the black bellied whale,
cup with your fingers, if you can remember
the leathery flipper, pushing gently through glassy water,
now engulfed in our poisonous paints.
Listless brown pulp collapses on the beach,
seaweed, if you can recall
remember when it was young and bright and green?
We have used our paintbrushes, our tools
our factories billowing with thick black smoke
our fishing nets hauling a load way too large, overfishing policies do not matter
they weren’t strict enough, anyways
the white flesh cut by the tight binding rope
silver scales stained red
eyes glazed over
We have painted the coral
whispers of deathly pale white
painted the fish so they blend into the sea
no longer there
existence drowned out.
bittersweet goodbyes remain on your lips
too late to save them.
Now, listen.
Truly listen, open your eyes and mind and ears
to the crack of the glaciers, to the glug glug glug of water slowly eating away at the cold
blue ice,
Listen to the silence of a paradisal beach, muted by plastic bottles covering white soft
sand, grocery bags floating over the turquoise curling waves.
Listen, and you will realize.
We have painted this world
an ugly color
let beautiful lovely things die
golden sunlight glittering on the waves
let ugly monstrous things grow
oil plantations dripping black blood
But we can save the ones that are left
We can take our paintbrushes, cleanse them of blood
Mix new colors,
gentle dolphin gray
cream white blobs of jellyfish
the slinking purple of a sea urchin
sweetly curled green seahorses
vivacious angelfish yellow
blue-eyed coral.
each little dab of paint makes a difference one at a time
and we will paint a new ocean canvas.
Reflection
A little while ago, I had the thought to compare our world to a canvas. We are the painters. We choose what mark we want to leave behind, what kind of painting we want our world to be. I have always been interested in climate change and helping this issue somehow, and poetry is a powerful way to convey a message, which I have always enjoyed. Let us work towards preserving this unbelievably, unfathomably, vastly amazing miracle of the ocean. Paint beautiful things over the ugly ones we had before. My hope is that others will hear the messages people are trying to send and listen to them.