Bandaged Ocean
Cincinnati, OH
2015, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Green swirls of water surround the brown feet
Walking through the sea over ivory sand.
Cut in an instant, soft and sweet
By a cup abandoned by a human hand
Crimson swims in the turquoise water
And she jumps, the salt stinging and biting the wound.
Diving in the ocean, swifter than a dolphin
She picks up the plastic that was sunken and ruined
Throwing it on the beach by a peachy shell.
It is poisoning the beach as it did the sea
Will this polluting scar heal? Only time will tell
And she hears the ocean cry, shouting in plea
Her eyes lift above the green, her gaze lost onto the blue facade.
She notices anew the clear trash floating like ghosts.
Sores that bleed, all human made
Rotting the sea, the beach, the coasts
Gasping, she grabs her flip flops from the water of jade
How the ocean is hurting she can now clearly see
She runs through the sand, trying in vain to find some bandage, an aid
That will gently heal the injured sea
Reflection
I wrote Bandaged Ocean to try to show people through words how the ocean hurts from the plastic pollution we dump in it. The inspiration from this poem came from seeing animals getting caught in plastic debris and beaches scarred with human garbage. It represents the way we are harming the ecosystem by dumping our waste in the ocean and how we need to fix the problem before it is too late. It is special to me because it gives the ocean a distinct personality and gives a sense of communion between the sea and the girl. I worked my passion for this problem through several drafts, crafting it until I felt it speaks for the ocean, representing my belief that we can help this ecosystem if we look at nature with fresh eyes and empathy.