The Coral Reef is a Graveyard
Hudson, WI
2021, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
In honor of the Water Is Life movement and countless Indigenous tribes working to reclaim the land.
The coral reef is a graveyard,
swirling in saltwater puddle
the dwindling whirlpool,
a mockery of blue taffy candy,
and floating bottle caps
The rivers are painted yellow-brown,
a brush of sulfur dioxide
seething muddling, rotten mess,
that heaves from the chest of concrete
swimming with vacuum cleaners
and plastic bags.
The lakes are dark as they sweat brow,
my home,
a floating patch of worry,
the bow of my sail is crusted
through garbage chutes,
and the white-bellied bodies of carp
The cardboard signs painted,
Water Is Life
wash upon shore in the night
blue chalk bleeding,
across the open-mouth bays of sailors
She turns on the switch of her porch door,
and meets a thick hum of absent electricity in its place,
an empty bucket, stained with water lines
In my brittle talc canoe,
grappling buckskin mittens to the side
an oil slick hand, dark and droopy
reaches overboard from whitecaps,
rocking off me the course of starlight
The maples bustle from their perch,
a grass field, burnt of radiation
offer support slim to none,
of peach fuzz leaves, barely there
Fresh streams turn into sludge
of miles thick pipeline exchange,
resting water, high above the line,
surfaces of gentrification
and stolen lands
In my olive hands,
a cloudy mirth bringing up soil,
of barely there oceans
and forgotten spirits
of cresting moons that whisper to me,
The heart of the people belongs to the heart of the land.
Reflection
Reflection
My poem is about bringing awareness to the effects of climate issues and pollution in oceans, lakes, and rivers constantly threatened by pipelines and tourism. I’m specifically focusing on Indigenous communities and the Water Is Life movement, especially Anishinaabe women and their defense against historically unjust water laws. By living in a town that focuses on the income and tourism of the St. Croix River, quite literally everything depends on the river, and keeping it clean means keeping businesses open and bellies full. Learning this in real-time is especially difficult as many of our community members try and defend the production of pipelines and factory plans on our shores. Keeping our people and rivers clean is vital.