Mass Murder
Oak Point, TX
2019, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Sit back and relax in your smooth Lamborghini
Shining red as the coral found in the Great Reef
Or at least how the lovely coral used to shine
Before your exhaust took its color as if a thief
Your feet are kicked up like the world is your oyster
When around us the coral is bleached chalky white
These reefs are cold, cruel, and crude like your ignorance
Like the jeans from your prime, they are ragged and tight
Before you came, the coral reefs were magical
But it isn’t magic that’s stripping it of life
It is more like the Carbon Dioxide release,
Like your deforestation, which you use as a knife
You cause the temperature and pH levels to rise
All are guilty for this cold-blooded killing spree
Let the reefs not rest in peace, but hasten to save them
Before they stay ghosts forever, a myth of the sea.
Reflection
Reflection
Let my poem serve as a trial for all of mankind. I envision the narrator as Mother Nature, who is judging us for the mistreatment and abuse that we have all caused the coral reefs. I was inspired to write this poem because of my desire to one day see the coral reefs, and not just the bleached ones which unfortunately is what most of the coral is rapidly turning into. Through researching for this poem, I have learned that the warming seas and increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the water have caused the coral reefs to be in crisis. Environmental stress, much of which is a direct result of careless behavior, leads to coral becoming bleached, vulnerable to disease, and having stunted growth and reproduction. In the second stanza I described our ignorance to be “crude,” and I think that illuminates humanity’s mistakes perfectly. The crude oil and its chemicals that are released into the atmosphere and the ocean waters are destroying so much life, something that if continued will be irreversible. Crude is another way to say vulgar or filthy, which also accurately describes our behavior towards the ocean. We as a whole aren’t giving the coral reefs the respect that it needs, and someday soon that will come back and bite us if we don’t change our ways. I have never truly seen the ocean in all of its glory and I hope that one day its beauty will still be there, waiting for me.