Self-Portrait as Brine
Logan, UT
2019, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
The ocean is full of life, but most of it is too small for the human eye to see.
—Nature, December 2014
I press my mouth to the city
and swallow.
Waterline up to the neck
of an apartment building,
the laundromat uprooted
in a fountain of soapsuds
and loose change.
No, this Godzilla
has no rubbery suit
that unzips
at the armpits. This Godzilla
munches on the metropolis
from afar—
a meadow overgrown,
blooming cuttlefish
and purple urchins,
lips pulled back
to submerge
another coastline,
teeth chipping on black sand
and comb jellies.
More
of a Loch Ness. Unseen
drifter, transported by currents
and tides pulled
towards the silver cracker
of moon.
Wandering slow
as molasses, a bloom
of red.
(I have a mouthful
of sour gums.)
My cavities
stained with carbon.
A baleen whale floating
belly-up
at the tip of my tongue:
the forgotten shade
of an abandoned petri dish.
What do you map
in the notches of my spine?
374 miles
shifting poleward,
my warming body
a gill
that takes in only thin air.
A sea of milk,
and the krill
who cannot drink.
No, the city
is Godzilla. The city
is kudzu
scaling the seawall,
tracing highways
around my legs.
The rustle
and blitz. Dash
and ripple. Hands
in thick green. Hands
under the coffee table,
folded. Bling bling
of the receiver—
Hello?
Hello?
You don’t / see me?
Reflection
Oceanic. Microscopic. These words embody polar opposites, but both can be used to describe marine ecosystems. Growing up, I loved science, and saw it as a way of protecting nature and the life around me. But I began seeing how just science is not enough to reconcile our contradictory attitudes towards the ocean. Current political discourse around climate change is rife and fragmented. The ocean and the life it supports are seen as simultaneously vast and invisible. In light of these divided views, art is crucial in serving as a unifying vision that can communicate beyond boundaries. When writing this poem, I thought a lot about what my own voice means, and what I hope to communicate. I realized that I wanted to show that marine life forces also have voices, even if they are tiny and invisible. Through imagining the voices of plankton as relatable forces, I hope to show that they need to be listened to. These creatures form the basis of our ecosystems and lives and are being altered by climate change. Plankton represent the power that we can have collectively, whether artists or scientists or just students. By binding together for a common cause, people of all backgrounds can create positive change, and one day “turn the tide.”