what color is the sea?
Chicago, IL
2019, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
the tubes of paint lay at my feet, a paintbrush in my hand.
canvas resting on the sand,
the ocean is my model.
looking through the paints,
deciding on a fitting shade.
what color is the sea?
I see glittering emerald green water,
splattered with the sparkling silver of foam,
tan shores where creatures roam.
I see the esoteric midnight blues,
languid waves rolling to pave
the way for rays of sun and gold, draping itself over billowing sails of boats.
I feel the playful azure underneath my back, floating through the sea, relaxed.
a yawn and stretch, my left hand meeting—
a can of pop.
what color is the sea?
I see the blatant reds and limes of soda cans and bottle caps,
and hear the crinkle of aluminum and tin.
and in a bird, a turtle, a penguin,
is the murky translucence of plastic bags and dirty rags.
I see the hard white of conch shells and whale ribs,
the weak bleached coral beaches,
trash splashed among the reefs.
the glazed blue of glaciers and ice submitting to the heat and fire,
metallic silver wires curled around animals bound in the cold.
I see the dismaying gray of a fisherman telling his wife he caught no fish,
their baby girl staring down at the dirty brown rivulets beating at her ankles.
I see the slimy black of oil dumped into the roiled sea, it’s fattening arms smothering life.
what color is the sea?
too many, too much… colorless.
the ocean has lost its color.
so I pack my tubes and my brushes and my canvas.
the ocean gives and we take and take
and take
‘till there will be nothing but the ruin of a world.
what does it take
to recolor the ocean?
help me
bring back my paints.
Reflection
Nature has had a rocky relationship with mankind. Throughout history, it’s been feared, antagonized, romanticized, and revered. Now, I think it’s a mix of all of that. The ocean is one of nature’s greatest assets—its colors, inhabitants, and resources providing for humanity. My family always chose the beaches as our go-to vacation, allowing me the chance to learn about and spend time with the animals underwater, a truly beautiful experience. We, as humans, appreciate the beauty of the ocean, yet we strike at it, again and again, polluting the waters and killing the marine life. It’s important to reach out to people through the creative mediums we’re so familiar with, in hope of collectively repairing and rescuing these wonders.