The Invasive Species
Miami, FL
2015, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
O dear o dear
make it disappear
it looks rather harmless
but trust me it’s not
destroying our oceans
it has to be stopped
Well you want me to describe it to you?
alright, I’ll give you a detail or two
It’s a synthetic monster
A cold and heartless wanderer
of the deep ocean blue
millions of them there are
in all shapes and sizes
from microscopic flecks
to much larger devices
with skin that does not biodegrade
it can carry on with its crusade
for decades and decades and decades
birds and sea critters eat this stuff up
they think it is food but these things are not food
these things are not good
they poison their bodies
contaminate the food chain
beware, these entities are also quite violent
they strangle sea creatures until they are silenced
o curse you polluter of habitat!
disrupter of underlings!
What?
Can they be stopped you ask?
Well of course!
but go home we must move in full force!
it all starts with you
there’s a lot you can do
stop buying bottled water
you’ll be thanked by sea otters
ditch disposal cups straws and utensils
bring reusable bags to the grocery store
and hear that roar
of gratitude coming from the deep ocean blue
do these things and more
for cleaner seas and cleaner shores
now the name of this wretched species
the one that’s been causing all this misery
plasterica is destroying the oceanea
or plastic
for short
Reflection
Reflection
I grew up and live near the coast, so my love for the ocean has always been deep--no pun intended. It's really overwhelming to think of the amount of plastic in the ocean. I live in Miami, and it breaks my heart to see plastic littered all over the beaches; even when the shores look clean at first, look closer and you'll see bottle caps, straws, and other little flecks of plastic--it seems to be EVERYWHERE. With the sights I've seen and the scary statistics I've read, it'd be so easy to just give up and turn my back on the ocean. "I'm just a kid, what can I do, anyway?"
But I believe every individual person can make a HUGE difference. There's definitely hope for our oceans! Its going to take teamwork and willpower to save the sea, but to be united we need every single one of us willing to help!