never again
New Orleans, LA
2019, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
never again will i see
a dazzling, yellow ball
melt onto the blanket of cerulean,
its drops of gold butter hug the sea’s silk body.
never again will i see
the fruit of the ocean,
a kaleidoscopic spectacle
a mardi gras festival.
when the children grasp
so desperately
for the last specks of life
in the melancholic eyes of the earth,
their palms cup plastic chips
their noses wrinkle at the scent of oil
their skin feels the lost euphoria
calling
whispering
in a black abyss of human evils.
when the children come back
to save the ocean
it’ll be drowned
in the thick, black grease of greed
suffocated in a cloak of poison fibers
beaten
scarred
murdered
by the sharp, cold metal
that cuts through its soft flesh.
never again will they say
children are the future,
for they have left no future
for their children.
Reflection
As oil companies consistently drill for profit, not only in warmer waters, but also in the Arctic, they’re putting hundreds of organisms at risk of extinction, decreasing biodiversity in the process. This is partially due to the release of toxic chemicals from oil spills, debris from pipelines on the seabed, and disruptive sound waves air guns make when companies are searching for oil. After really getting into the nuances of ocean pollution, I realized that my generation of people would probably never be able to see a clean mass of water after 2030. Because of this quite frustrating revelation, I decided to write about all the things I loved about the ocean. After pondering and erasing and rewriting, a long list of “favorite things” shortened into a poem about the pure essence of this life-filled yet rapidly dying ocean. I wrote this piece in lowercase because I wanted to display the delicate situation of the waters both visually and metaphorically. Prior to entering this contest, I had just dipped my feet into environmental activism. Needless to say, I believe young people should really open their eyes to this problem that has been thrown to us. In the near future, I want to be able to spread information about the effects of climate change through an online newspaper that allows people to discuss innovative ideas and propose bills for Congress. I want to add just a few more years of sparkling seas for the next generation to revel in.