Polluted Pacific
Chicago, IL
2015, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
If you search the words “Pacific Ocean” on Google Images, pictures of clean, clear, blue water and healthy sea animals will fill your computer screen.
These pictures are not reality.
If you have looked at the real picture, then you have seen.
The Pacific Ocean, the world’s largest ocean
Exposed to an annual amount of pollution
Sewage, fertilizer runoff, chemical and nuclear waste, toxins from shipping and industrial practices, plastic and debris
Plastic constitutes 90 percent of all trash floating in the world’s oceans polluting the ocean, casing commotion
Effecting the lives of the plants and animals living there Colorful autotrophic plants surrounded by black think back to when it was clear
The shining sun, now blocked by trash, which last and grow
Animals who swallow thick plastic and elastic, die out fast, effecting the food chain, which will soon not last.
Plastic rings wraps around the necks
Chocking, letting the squawks and squalls come to a rest
The Pacific Ocean, home to the world’s largest landfill, Great Pacific Garbage Patch
3.5 million tons of trash lives inside of this
Whirling currents in the Pacific Ocean, pull trash and pollution into this
The landfill’s area has grown to twice the size of Texas and continues to grow, an island, is this
Animals dive into this
Animals dine off of this
Animals will die off of this
Plants will live in this
Plants will try to get food from this
Plants will die trying from this
Plastic and garbage is this
“More than 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces each year, about 10 percent ends up in the ocean” -LA Times
Seventy percent sinks, damaging life on the lively floor
The rest floats, being swallowed by most, killing most, endangering most
Because people decide to boast
“I don’t think pollution is that big of an issue”
“I think the ocean is pretty clean”
“I love water!” throwing trash into the polluted Pacific
Under the water life begins to not last
But plastic last for 450 years
Reflection
Reflection
For my contest entry I wrote a poem about the pollution in the Pacific Ocean. I chose to write a poem because it was a way for me to creativity express my emotions and my reasearch in a way that is different from an essay.
I chose to write a poem because I was inspired by writers such as Billy Collins, and his poem The Deep. In his poem The Deep, he talks about nature, things such as the plants, the landforms and animals and he talks about how humans have been destroying nature over the years, with things such metal and plastic.
My poem represents the humans and the waste that humans put into the ocean, negativity that habitat and health of plants and animals. My poem represents what will happen in the future if the issue of pollution in the ocean is not resolved.
Something that is unique about my poem is, I wrote from the perspectives of both, humans and animals. I wrote about what humans thought of the pollution in the Pacific Ocean and I wrote about what animals thought of the pollution in the Pacific Ocean. In my poem, I also wrote about, how both, humans and animals are effected by the pollution in Pacific.
The issue of pollution, means a great deal to me. This issue means a great deal to me because, it has grow, for example the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is an island that is about twice the size of Texas and it continues to grow, and it is made out of trash. This island has negatively effected the health the animals and plants. By the animals and plants dying, the food will be corrupted, and cause other forms of life to die out. This issue could end many things if it is not solved soon. The issue of pollution in the ocean, means a a lot to me and the future.