reflections
Albany, OR
2019, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Gaze down at the rippling image of yourself.
Reflect.
On bright clear days, full of only
You, you, you.
Moments of carelessness, strung together,
Forming years of ignorant abuse.
A camera shutter. A quick post.
Full of laughter, and vacations and swimming and you
You feebly protest your guilt. It’s lost amidst their cacophonous pleas for justice.
You cry out in vain, your efforts inconsequential
Regret forming only once life has faded.
She, blue and battered, appreciates those moments of self-reflection.
Those seconds of too late remembrances.
Polluted waters. Choking animals.
The guzzle of gas, turning into harmful emissions.
She drinks it. Struggling to resist against the stroke of death.
To resist you.
For you.
She breathes for you, fights for you, dies for you
Swells against you, desperate to save her children.
Her cries penetrate the black film covering her,
the betrayal sinks deep
Into the depths of her.
The depths of both of you.
She retreats into herself and reflects.
Reflects on the husk she’s become
Devoid of life
Full of you
The void inside her grows
As you traipse ahead. Oblivious,
A camera clicks.
A smile is captured.
She sinks. Deflates.
Hope fading with the loss of
Sight, smell, hearing
Those which inhabit her whimper,
Call her home.
They fearfully search for safety
Yet wander straight to the enemy
Full of teeth and death and remembrances of you
Her children fall away.
As her waters rise
The void grows
And yet the camera clicks.
The endless expanse
Drowning the future,
Choking life.
She sings of loss.
The tune reverberates.
Beaches in the East tremble.
Ice in the North slips away
You stand at the edge.
Content, you gaze through a lens pointed only towards beauty.
Her song of warning goes unnoticed.
She quiets.
Looks for what’s been lost.
Her children stumble into darkness.
Color fades away into bleak gray. Hopeless. Lifeless.
Waves still, silent.
You falter.
Your eyes find years of neglect.
You shake at your own destruction.
The camera falls away.
You look out at her.
Still so powerful. Beautiful.
Your whispers of apologies stir her.
She lifts her weary head. Eyes meet amidst turmoil and lost causes.
Remorse grips you with its strong arms and pulls you into the blue.
An embrace. Your sorrow dissipates, comfort lifting you up.
She wipes your eyes and motions upward.
You, her lost child, see the brilliant light shine. Witness her ethereal beauty.
Her children swell forward, seeing, smelling, hearing the future.
Reflection
Social media, and society’s desire to always go above and beyond for admiration, drives us to focus solely on our looks, background, and filter. People take increasingly drastic measures to garner attention, causing jealousy, which in turn generates even more envious photos and posts. I often see this trend around this time of the year. Summer means trips to beaches, islands, and more of those “perfect” photos. While I understand and encourage capturing moments and memories, I don’t support losing yourself and your purpose for being there in search for the best photo. I created a poem that emphasizes our ignorance in the midst of disaster. While our thoughtless actions have serious consequences, we’re so caught up in ourselves that we completely miss the signs of our harm. To me, the ocean is a gentle giant, disappointed in our actions, but still doing its best to fix our mistakes. I want readers to feel guilt at our inconsideration and recognize we all fall prey to shallow tendencies. However, recognizing our blunders is half the battle. Only once we understand where we went wrong can we move forward and work for a better future. The presence of the future is lost beneath ignorance, but found and achievable through sincerity.