Love on the Rocks
Houston, TX
2022, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Don’t rising temperatures make you hotter?
Apparently not
My wings haven’t gotten longer
My feathers are uglier
And my lungs are full of gunk
I don’t smoke though
I leave that to the polar bears
They think they’re cool and all
Posing for the pictures and Coke commercials
Poor things don’t even notice
The ice cracking
My wife won’t even look me in the eyes
We used to take long flights together
Effortless gliding
Updrafts taking us high
Into the territory of the roaring metal birds
They’re rather hard-headed
And hot
Everywhere they go
An icicle falls
Even with the sun glaring down on us
The only sweat my wife breaks into is when she’s talking to the penguins
They act like there’s a camera on them every second
Snuggling up to each other
Sitting on their precious eggs
Sometimes I wish a seal would come
And snatch one clean off their feet
Maybe then they’ll wish they could fly
The polar bears are slobs
They leave their cans out on the ice
Throw their plastic and cigarettes into the ocean
Like feed for the fish
They swallow and get tangled
Then drown to death
But a little nibble on a straw can’t hurt, right?
The turtles still seem to be sore about that
Divorce didn’t cross my mind
It flew right into it
Like glass
I could see right through
But I still crashed into it
And broke my bones
I thought albatross’s love lasted forever
She didn’t want the kids either
Said they looked like me
Bald and dull
I still have patches of feathers, though
And I’m not a dumb pigeon
Greasy and all
Always flying into windows
Poor things don’t see it coming
She dreams of the cold taking her once more
To a pure place
Riding crisp jet streams and currents
Away
While here I am
Sitting on eggs
Building a nest
Inhaling the smoke blown at my face
Clearing the air for her
Fake promises of cold and comfort
That only humans can control
While we drift
Like the dead fish sinking to the bottom
Away from the smoke
Away from the plastic
Away from me
Staring at the cracks in the ice
Waiting for the snow to fall
And a cold breeze to take me home
Reflection
Reflection
I loved writing this poem about albatrosses who usually mate for life, but because of climate change are "divorcing" at record rates. As a Gulf Coast Bird Observatory volunteer, I once wore a hummingbird costume for an exhibition. My approach to using humor in my poem was similar to me putting on the costume. It wasn’t my usual take on writing poetry, but because of this, I was able to be someone else and have fun with it. I surprised myself on how freeing the process was. Just the fact that we were trying to make something humorous, ironic, or satirical didn’t take away from the seriousness of the situation and the consequences of ignoring a global catastrophe. It made me realize that when something’s funny, it’s easier to hear the message and accept it in that form. Writing this poem and entering this competition has made me realize that I can help change the world by changing minds and informing others about where we are heading. Like my grandma always says, “It’s easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar.”