Returning the Favor
Wilmington, NC
2017, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
I gave you tons of seafood
And what did you give me?
A plastic bag, a stray balloon
And lots of organochlorines.
I gave you a carbon sink
And what did you give me?
Fossil fuels from car exhaust
That you might never see.
I gave you transportation
And what did you give me?
An unwillingness to move
Toward cleaning up the sea.
I gave you cooler weather
And what did you give me?
Greenhouse gas and global warming
That cause a rise in me.
I gave you a tourism industry
And what did you give me?
A landscape of plastic and garbage
That is there, but not meant to be.
I gave you money from fisheries
And what did you give me?
Oil for my fish to swim in
And harm to the economy.
I gave you biodiversity
And what did you give me?
Pesticides and power plants
That destroy to a large degree.
I gave you a whole ecosystem
And what did you give me?
Bioaccumulation
Of harmful PCBs.
I gave you world of water
And what did you give me?
A world where all the blue
Turns brown and gray and muddy.
I gave you tons of seafood
And what can you give me?
Recycling programs and reusable bags
To help your industry.
I gave you a carbon sink
And what can you give me?
Alternative energy and carpooling
And better awareness of me.
I gave you transportation
And what can you give me?
A new generation of people
Who know the importance of the sea.
I gave you cooler weather
And what can you give me?
Less metals and acids
To decrease the ppb.
I gave you a tourism industry
And what can you give me?
A population of individuals
Who know the beach isn’t free.
I gave you money from fisheries
And what can you give me?
Less oil spills and pollutants
And oil-cleanup techniques.
I gave you biodiversity
And what can you give me?
Regulations on use of pesticides
That call for better efficiency.
I gave you a whole ecosystem
And what can you give me?
Interact with all your friends
To help in my community.
I gave you world of water
And what can you give me?
A world where all the blue
Stays like that for everybody.
Bibliography
CNRS. “Ocean pollution: Focusing on fragmentation of plastic waste.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 May 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/1605 23083821.htm>.
Reflection
Reflection
From growing up near the beach, I have a firsthand understanding of the importance of the ocean as well as the challenges it faces. My passion for helping to protect the ocean led me to volunteer at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, where I educate my community on not only various marine animals and their role in the ocean ecosystem, but also on how essential the ocean environment is for humans, wildlife, and the economy. However, my love for the ocean is not just limited to my volunteering. One of the classes that I have taken in my senior year of high school was an advanced Environmental Chemistry course at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The insightful seminars given by my professor as well as guest speakers reinforced my knowledge of ocean pollution and ways in which people are addressing it, and “Returning a Favor” is largely based on what I learned throughout the semester. My experiences—in both learning and teaching ocean awareness—are encompassed in my poem. It describes how essential the ocean is to people’s everyday lives, as it impacts aspects ranging from transportation to food, from industry to weather. Why not return the favor?