And
Comstock Park, MI
2020, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
“I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” ― Edward Everett Hale
It’s one motor car,
And just one plastic straw.
One water bottle in the trash,
And one laundry load done extra-hot.
And turtles choke on one plastic ring,
And whales starve with full stomachs—
Full of trash,
And the ocean’s like lemon juice
Like LSD I once heard someone say
So calcifying organisms can’t calcify,
And reefs are whitewashed tombs
A stiff surrender to an almighty force.
You scoff at the student who brought their own coffee cup,
Sliding it across the counter to the woman in green,
Or the soccer mom hauling cloth grocery bags
As she wrangles them into place.
You reply with eyebrows raised to your friend as she begs you to change
And chalk problems up to “the powers that be.”
You crank your AC as the summer gets hot
And shake your head at the latest hurricane.
You’re only one, though. It isn’t on you,
And you’ve claimed the neutrality of powerlessness.
But you were never powerless.
You are one. You are one. You are one.
And Einstein would tell you that the difference between one and zero
Is infinity.
And you are one, but did you know: the best predictor of a person having solar panels
Is if their neighbor has them too?
Because we change each other.
And you’re a drop in a bucket
And the bucket is the ocean
But where do you think ripples come from?
And maybe more see
And see
And see.
Every aggregate starts solitary,
And I hope one day you will see
It was never just one.
Works Cited
Borunda, Alejandra. “This Young Whale Died with 88 Pounds of Plastic in Its Stomach.” 18 Mar. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/whale-dies-88-pounds-plastic-philippines/.
Everett , Edward. “Quotable Quote.” Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/quotes/188305-i-am-only-one-but-still-i-am-one-i.
Meyer, Robinson. “Google’s New Product Puts Peer Pressure to a Sunny Use.” The Atlantic, 12 June 2017, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/06/googles-new-product-puts-peer-pressure-to-a-sunny-use/529974/.
NOAA. “What Is Ocean Acidification?” www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F.
The Climate Reality Project. “WHAT CAN YOU DO? Your Guide to Climate Action in 2020.” 29 Apr. 2020.
Reflection
Reflection
As I have worked to advocate for the environment in my community over the last few years, one of the things I most often run up against is feelings of powerlessness. This could be feelings from others, who have often told me that the little things we do don’t make a difference, or that it’s up to corporations and politicians to make change. It could also be from myself, though, experiencing feelings of frustration or stagnation when it seems like I can’t see any improvement. This poem is as much to myself as to others, whether they also want to work for the environment and feel burned out or whether they can’t bring themselves to try because they think it won’t make a difference. We can make a difference. Having written this poem, I am more sure of that now than ever. It’s true that not using plastic bags isn’t going to solve climate change, but it isn’t about plastic bags. It’s about what those bags inspire in others, which inspires something else in others, and together we grow to make a difference. One person can’t fix climate change, but one person can start to, and that should give us hope. That gives me hope, and that’s why I wanted to focus on this in my poem. Hopelessness is crippling, but with renewed hope, I will continue to advocate for renewable energy, waste reduction, and wildlife in my community for a brighter, possible, climate change-free future.