And the Ocean Wonders, Too
Highland Park, NJ
2017, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
And we wondered why no one ever hears,
the melodious chorus of ocean waves,
The baritone notes of a humpback whale,
the soprano voiced bottlenose dolphin,
and they wondered why we never did sing,
When they sent to us their metal speakers,
disguised as ‘sonars’ that explored our realms,
But instead it wailed dawn to dusk to day.
And we wondered why they came to intrude,
those robbers that stole our peace and quiet,
That created this blinding world of pain,
where insanity slowly consumes us.
and they wondered why the ocean bleeds too,
Where the land and sea converge stained scarlet,
from harbor to harbor tears left unchanged,
Between wake and night little the diff’rence
And we wondered why our lives were changing,
if ever heard the calls of our leader,
Now wander lost across a maze of paths,
drawn behind currents of fear and terror.
and they wondered why oceans were dying,
The kingdom deafened into a silence.
and they wondered why we never did sing,
When the ocean hung a silence like death.
But then we wonder what could have happened,
if humans stood out, extending a hand,
If the volume was muted, would there be,
the phoenix of ashes long live in peace.
Wondered, too the ocean of harmony,
and in the end, the ocean wonders, too.
Reflection
Noise pollution, though its name suggests otherwise, remains a silent problem - rarely addressed, rarely known in the whole of ocean pollution. This reminded me of the times when my family went to NYC - the loud noises, screaming though never heard. The ocean has it worse, about 100 decibels worse, and even worse, they are trapped, like the way noise pollution gradually silences the oceans. The whales that are stranded on beaches must have been dying on the inside, far worse than knives, that they must have bargained freedom for death. A freedom we took away. The poem, “And the Ocean Wonders, Too,” is from the hope, wonder, that everyone can change something.