What We Refuse to See
Chappaqua, NY
2017, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Flurry of color,
flurry of fish.
Stirring, sweet song,
sweet ballad of the whale.
Jovial, delighted chirp,
delighted trill of the dolphin.
All is at peace.
All is as it should be.
One mistake.
One drop of oil–
then two,
then three.
Four moments of ignorance.
Four plastic bottles dropped on the shore–
then five,
then six.
Seven greedy men.
Seven times more microbeads–
then eight,
then nine.
The flurry is no longer colored.
Gone is the flurry of fish.
The song is no longer sweet.
Pained is the lament of the whale.
The chirp is no longer delighted.
Desperate is the cry of the dolphin.
We are not at peace.
Nothing is as it should be.
Reflection
While researching for this Contest, I learned a lot about different types of ocean pollution and how human activity can affect various ocean ecosystems. To be honest, I didn’t know much about the gravity of the issue that is ocean pollution before entering this Contest, and I was shocked to learn of how horrible this problem has gotten. My poem, I hope, conveys some of the messages that I wish more people would be conscious of. I think that the main problem with ocean pollution is that people aren’t aware of the consequences their actions can have on the environment, and how perhaps a decision they make now–disposing of a plastic item inappropriately, for example–can have extreme repercussions later. I tried to communicate the idea that the growth of ocean pollution is exponential, and it is all rooted in the small, seemingly inconsequential decisions that people make everyday when they choose to drop their plastic items on the beach, or incorrectly dispose of a product. Although I won’t deny that the issue of ocean pollution is critical, and will require a lot of hard, innovative work to solve, I believe that with a change in mindset, a greater stress on educating more people about pollution, and by coming together as a community, we will be able to fix this.