Sea Narratives
Wayne, PA
2020, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
1. Seagull
you soar through the sky
your prospects, infinite
your chances, close to nothing
as you fly by, only a dim fogged horizon ahead.
once tasting the salty sea air
now all that is left is the bitter aftertaste of your new normal.
your diet of styrofoam and elastic bands you wish were ghost crabs, and seaweed.
bittersweet artifacts of our civilization
stolen fragments of our ongoing crisis.
what comes next?
2. Sea turtle
your companions, replaced by plastic.
something paper-thin and pink glides by. a jellyfish?
with a swift swallow, your mistaken gulp seems to echo through the ocean
plastic tentacles lodge in your throat, tasting of petroleum and fraud
side effects of our rapid progress, they mock you.
what comes next?
3. Sea lion
soda cans, straws, bags; plastic debris surround you
these twisted bottles, these misshapen utensils,
this view mirrors the mercury levels in your blood.
human trash—your playthings.
as your friend struggles in a packaging band
you realize this is no longer a game.
what comes next?
4. Human
practically soaring, you look to the skyline
momentous prospects, such chances and possibilities
yet the horizon is fogged
plagued with uncertainty,
blocking our view of what lies ahead
and what we are destroying.
a pristine framed picture of a coral reef sits in front of you
you hold it
then gently place it facedown. you can overlook this no longer.
what point is there moving forward when our environment seems to only be waning?
you pull out a paper, clean and glowing—
just as the ocean should be.
and with that
your next project begins.
what comes next?
we will find a ray of sunlight
we will clear the fog
we will clean the ocean.
Works Cited
Birds Suffer from Air Pollution, Just Like We Do, by Kenneth Quin, July 23, 2015. Retrieved from https://ca.audubon.org/news/birds-suffer-air-pollution-just-we-do#:~:text=Direct%20Impacts%20on%20Birds&text=Long%2Dterm%20exposure%20can%20lead,time%20in%20the%20open%20air.
How Does Oil Impact Marine Life?, by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, last updated March 11, 2020. Retrieved from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oilimpacts.html#:~:text=Oil%20spills%20are%20harmful%20to,well%20as%20fish%20and%20shellfish.&text=Oil%20destroys%20the%20insulating%20ability,creatures%20to%20the%20harsh%20elements.
How Plastic Pollution is Affecting Seals and Other Marine Life, November 11, 2017. Retrieved from https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/news/how-plastic-pollution-affecting-seals-and-other-marine-life
Plastic in Our Ocean is Killing Marine Mammals, October 2, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/plastic-in-our-oceans-is-killing-marine-mammals#gs.7trvz8
Mercury Laden Sea Lion Carcasses Threaten California’s Coastal Condors, by Joshua Rapp Learn, August 8, 2016. Retrieved from
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mercury-laden-sea-lion-carcasses-are-trouble-californias-coastal-condors-180960043/
The Effect of Plastic on Marine Life, May 10, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.pegasusfoundation.org/the-effect-of-plastic-pollution-on-marine-life/#:~:text=Sea%20Lions%20and%20Seals,they%20find%20in%20the%20ocean
Reflection
As stated in the title, my piece is a compilation of various narratives from different sea animals affected by the increasing amount of pollution and waste in the oceans. Each poem ends with a verse expressing their helplessness and how this life surrounded by trash may be the only life they are destined to lead. It does not have to be like this, though. In my final poem, The Human, the narrator recognizes that we need to clear out this “fog” that is blocking everyone from realizing what kind of devastation we are causing. All those involved in ocean awareness are the rays of sunlight in this case, and with our combined efforts, we can clear the fog and bring light to what we have done. Once we understand, we can accomplish. Before beginning to write, I researched the effects of pollution on different animals. I learned how sea turtles confuse plastic bags for jellyfish, sea lions play with human trash as their playthings, and so on. Then, I took these facts and made them into a story from each animal’s point of view. This piece was made to give a voice to the voiceless and raise awareness for the turmoil that lingers like an ever-looming dark curtain beneath the sea. We have reached a point where we can no longer ignore it. Hopefully, one ray at a time, these animals will see the sun again and the curtain will be lifted, ultimately revealing nature’s masterpiece.