Mother Ocean
Pasig City, Philippines
2018, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
How did you forget your first provider?
Like a mother, it raised you until you could walk
On your own two feet to stray from her care
But always come back if ever you were there
And stare out into her vastness in peace
You left, forgetting what it sacrificed
Never paying the price of life that it
paid with interest of a life less strife
How did you grow up to be like
Those ‘adults’ who deemed
That the ocean is just a vessel?
Your hands could wrestle for
Some pearls and some mussels
To pay off the rest of the debt
That you struggle with ‘til death
And you became apathetic
Tell me, do you think
She wanted to be seen as nothing more
Than a money-churning machine?
As convenient travel means?
Only in image so pristine?
You watched the world tear into her
And your guilt would sink further
As the hand of your brother scraped
Her insides with scars digging
Farther and farther with her pain
Sealed in unread memoirs
They may find her name
Pop up in books of the old and same
Blame poured over those sullen orbs
And their brighter stars bore into yours
“What was the ocean like way before?”
And blink back the hurricane
The swell of pain and empty gain
“She was a wonderful, my dear
Shame we let her disappear
Reflection
My take on the theme was to establish the relationship of the human system with the ocean. We fail to realize how much it has aided us in the development of our society. No longer do we see it as a gift of our earth; we see it for numbers, commercial value, etc. And while that is how our development was jump-started, we should not compromise it for our own selfish gains. It is a part of the world we live in and imagining how it would be like without it is terrifying for me. I wanted to paint a more relatable picture of how it has helped us. It also stands to show how selfish gains outweigh our appreciation of these natural wonders. It’s not just the ocean; so many other things on this earth are abused and neglected because our society is so focused on other things that continue to ruin us. It is like we have abandoned our roots, searching for greener pastures, when we were already gifted with it right from the start.