Mother Manatee
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
2016, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Mother Manatee:
it’s a crazy world for a newborn calf,
But I’ll protect you like my other half.
I love you but you know so little
Eugene, you are small and brittle.
Very soon you’ll quadruple in weight
And one day you will have a mate.
Today’s not that day and until then
I will teach you again and again
About everything you need to know
And everywhere you’ll want to go.
Eugene my baby manatee
I will keep you safe and free.
There are many things to fear
Just like anything sharp and clear
Don’t eat that, it’s called glass
All you should eat is sea grass.
Plastic is a dangerous thing
There’s even some with six weird rings.
Stay away from that no matter what
It can make you hurt, bruised or cut.
Eugene, the world’s a dangerous place
So much to see, so much space.
One major thing to understand
People think that they’re so grand.
Swim away when you see one
Of their presence, you want none.
You might think that they could share,
Not at all, they don’t care.
So many things can make you sick,
It all can build up really quick.”
Me:
All of this is called pollution,
To which there is a big solution.
Reuse, reduce, recycle.
Help animals finish their life cycle.
And if everyone makes this one contribution,
We can help stop underwater pollution.
Reflection
Reflection
I love to write poetry, and believe pollution is a big problem that needs to be fixed. I think this competition is an amazing idea and love being a part of it. My poetry titled “Mother Manatee” is in the perspective of a mother manatee giving advice to her calf named Eugene. She tells him about how to survive dealing with humans and their devastating plastic and glass pollution. I wanted to show in the mind of a worried mother manatee as an interesting twist. I read about manatees and made sure all of the information throughout the poem was correct. At the end of the poem, it is in the perspective of “me”, or any single person who wants to make a difference for ocean pollution, describing the simple things that can help save the oceans.