She
Flushing, NY
2016, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
She was kind
She was loving
She was strong
She could move mountains
And She was beautiful
Oh so beautiful
That the people came from near and far to catch a glimpse of Her
She met a man
Who greeted Her and loved Her with reckless abandon
Who thought She was beautiful and strong and loving and kind
And they were in love for many years
He grew to know Her tinkering laugh and mysterious ways
And held Her close in his heart
And She understood his whims and desires
She knew of his innovation and determined attitude
And held him close in Her heart
Their lives were twined in perfect compatibility
Until he met another
And this woman was the opposite of the one he loved
And gave little to the man
But he could only want more and more and more
He drifted away from the safety of Her arms
And into those of another
He had a sick obsession with “more, more, and more”
The woman had convinced him
That She would wait for him forever
And there was no harm in running away, just for a little while
He left Her side
Only to return and bring Her the toxic the other woman had planted into him
And Her expression faltered
And Her beauty faltered with it
He brought Her a cloak of dark velvet
But She suffocated in this black cloud
And again Her expression faltered
And again Her beauty faltered with it
And he had never noticed Her silent struggles against his gifts
It was heartbreak to last for centuries
But still She stayed faithful
Her strength could not be contained
Her strength was one that carved the valleys and created the heaviest storms
She would not be stopped by one man
But She could be wounded
A child saw Her pain
And took Her hand
And told Her, “I’ll take care of you.”
Reflection
Reflection
This is a poem of love and betrayal, of the ocean and mankind. The ocean is always referred to as “She” while man is referred to as “he.” I wanted to paint the picture that the ocean, while exquisitely beautiful, can be wounded over time by man’s careless actions. The two bodies had co-existed peacefully until man met the second woman, greed. She is the one who inspires man to act selfishly, and she is the one who destroys man’s love for the ocean; man soon takes the ocean’s love for granted. The ocean, although hurt by man’s toxic waste and oil spills, cannot be (or has not yet) been completely ruined. At the very end, there is hope when the child, the next generation, vows to help restore the sea to her beauty.
An interest in conservation has always been prominent in my heart; my love for the ocean is inherent. Summers spent next to beautiful waves will never be forgotten, and I always marvel at the diversity of marine life. This cause, I feel, needs immediate attention and I only wish to do my part.