mangrove
Herndon, VA
2021, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
mother, i’m drowning
sunlight penetrates the cracks
where my arms cannot reach
at the place where the earth meets the sea.
the salt burns my tongue
as whirling water floods my lungs.
the carbon is bitter
but so is love—
mother, do you love me?
to my brothers and sisters,
i’m a steadfast fortress.
my gnarled limbs
bear the bruises
of the wrath that is
your brutal waves and hurricanes.
i let you in for a hug,
arms open wide
vulnerable and gaping,
searching for something tangible
in the cavernous blue.
mother, please don’t let go.
keep holding me
even if it’s a little too tight,
even if i suffocate in your embrace.
just know
i’m rooting for you.
always.
mother, they saved me
i met someone
who looked at me
like i was something worth saving.
they came brandishing shovels
in calloused hands,
donning muddy soles on worn boots.
i watched them carve channels
into the dampened soil,
like they were playing god
with the ebb and flow of the water.
i watched them construct
peculiar bamboo walls
all along the jagged coast.
i watched them sow seeds
into the silky and fertile earth
with the delicacy of cradling a newborn.
except those channels
are arteries,
pumping the nutrients
that are my lifeblood.
except those crisscrossed walls
are the bare bones
that guard my flesh from
the sting of the violent tide.
except each fragile seed
is a vibrant, steady pulse
in your womb of clay and soil.
mother,
i can finally breathe again.
Reflection
I wrote this poem to bring awareness to rising sea levels endangering vital mangrove ecosystems. Mangroves are a unique type of plant that grow on tropical coastlines and have many important functions. I was surprised to learn that not only do they act as the "roots" of the sea by preventing erosion and acting as a defensive barrier against storm surges and tides, they can actually filter out most of the salt from seawater. In addition to providing crucial protection for all types of wildlife and coral reefs, they are able to sequester large amounts of carbon and may prove to be extremely valuable in future efforts to reduce atmospheric carbon. Despite all these amazing benefits, mangroves are highly overlooked, and restoration efforts often fail. However, more recent initiatives are taking strategic approaches that involve building dikes to mitigate the impact of waves while allowing sediments to accumulate, and redirecting channels to allow for optimal water levels. These are just some of the more successful methods that are being employed to save mangroves all around the world. By writing from the perspective of a drowning mangrove that has been saved by humans, I hope to convey my optimism for the protection of these plants and the role that they will play as water protectors.