Subaquatic Cousins
Baton Rouge, LA
2017, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
We all have that one relative
Maybe down the street
Or in another state
Or we may share the planet with them
But we all have them
The one who takes
“make yourself at home”
just a little too seriously
who comes with their oily fingers
leaving stains
and stink
and trash
and taking what never belonged to them
Everyone has the uncle or aunt or third cousin twice removed
But no one is them
No one looks in their reflection on the sea
Only at the blackened water beneath
Reflection
Reflection
This poem, though short, truly forced me to step back and look at how we as society have made ourselves “too comfortable” in habitats that aren’t ours. We can’t live in water, so why should we think we have more autonomy over it than its actual inhabitants? We have slipped into arrogance as an entire species and must realize our mistakes before have hope of correcting them.