Cobalt Whispers
Royal Oak, MI
2021, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Chairman,
How does it feel being so tall?
Touch this river,
How strong it is.
It is fierce enough
To topple the mightiest buildings,
Pull you under its rapid surface
But oh,
Look at the life it gives,
Minnows dancing between rocks.
Chairman,
How does it feel being so sure?
Let the ocean humble you,
With truth flowing from seaweed fingertips
Tickling your feet.
It hides nothing but
The secrets of its companions;
If you’d just listen
To hear the whispers
Of its cobalt breadth.
Chairman,
How does it feel being so sovereign?
See the lagoons,
The union it shares
With ocean tides.
Corals and anemones
Wouldn’t have glistened in its depths
Without the tides from the water
Without the pull of the moon
Without the gravity of planets.
See dependence,
Rippling clear
On the surface of the lagoon.
Chairman,
How does it feel being so harmless?
The lake behind your mill
Rotting,
The silence a virus
Spreading across your land.
Even the gulls,
Who are home in crowded lands
Have fled from the water.
Chairman, tell me;
How does it feel to destroy?
Your calcium and coal dust
Have driven fishermen, storytellers,
The rich, the poor,
From the soundless pond
That is now ink.
Chairman, please,
Do not capitulate;
Let the river
Show fierceness;
Let the ocean humble you
And show you truth;
Let the lagoons
Exemplify dependence,
For I alone cannot correct
What has been damaged.
Chairman,
It is up to
You.
Reflection
Reflection
When my family and I used to drive to Colorado, we often passed by large factories; I would later discover that these were sugar manufacturing plants. Not all of them smelled bad, but I had clearly remembered one in particular that had the stench of chemicals mixed with rotten eggs. The smell lasted for miles, and I couldn't imagine how the people living next to the factory or even working in the factory felt. Behind this factory, there was a pond that was black as pitch, where the factory would dump its byproducts of the sugar-making process, such as coal dust and calcium carbonate. When I did more research on this a few years later, I discovered the environmental impacts that sugar factories have had across the entire United States. I discovered the complaints of those living in a small town right next to it—complaining of the horrid smell, the noise, and the water. This inspired me to write about someone who could have the power to fight for the well-being of the water around the factory, and the people nearby. I knew that this couldn't be the only place where waters and people were harmed by corporations, so with some research I found more information on the detrimental effects of these factories: sugar beet factories in particular. I want people to know that although water is something that needs to be saved, it can also be something to look to for strength and perseverance. I also wish that more corporations, such as sugar manufacturers, would weigh the drawbacks of their factories and see the harm it does to the ecosystems around them. I have never written a poem about water before, but in writing this I saw similarities between the flow of the stanzas and the flow of water. It made me realize that something such as raising awareness is not always about being loud and proud, but by humbling someone and showing them other sides to the world, maybe a side they are not accustomed to. Ideas can be passed on in a different way.