Pacific
Los Angeles, CA
2016, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
The wave crashes and
I crash.
I grew up
In a messy crowded city
Next to the Pacific Ocean
I can walk to the beach.
This makes me lucky.
To get to the ocean
I cross a bridge over a stream with concrete river-banks
Where the brown water flows
To the sea.
In the summer I swim
Directly in front of the “no-swimming” signs.
Because the “no-swimming” signs
Extend a mile in either direction.
To get to the ocean
I walk across the sand
But I leave my shoes on
So I don’t step on something sharp
Left on the beach by someone else.
I went swimming at night on a whim
And someone said
“Wasn’t there just an oil spill up the coast?”
And I worried for my health.
The Pacific is a companion
A tangible memory of childhood
A guest at family picnics and host to sunburns.
I am watching it degrade before my eyes.
Heat up,
Fill with plastics and runoff and acid.
When the sea crashes,
We all do.
Reflection
I wrote this poem as a way of showing my connection to the Pacific Ocean. Having grown up very near the Pacific, I am very familiar with its beaches near my home and the problems stemming from ocean pollution, whether runoff, oil spills, or plastic pollution. I am witness to a very small portion of the immense amount of pollution that must make its way into the ocean, simply by seeing it on my beaches and in the water. I want people to be more aware of how intimately linked humanity is with the health of our oceans, as the ocean occupies a vast amount of our planet, and I think people tend to ignore the problems facing the ocean because it is an inhabitable land for humans, so the problems aren’t right on their doorstep. People need to understand that the health of the planet is the foremost concern and issue facing us today, and immediate action needs to be taken if we are to survive.