What Your Mama Didn’t See
Owings Mills, MD
2017, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Your mama laughed
When you came back crying
After your first swim
In the ocean
But your mama didn’t see
What you saw
Your mama did not hear
The cries of the ocean
The crabs yelling
stop. STOP
Do not dump your oil
Into the mouths of our brethren
Who are left at death’s door
Because of you
The turtle shrieking
stop. STOP
this plastic has been around my neck
since birth
I bear the pain and deformities
Of your selfishness
The whale made no noise
But you could see into
Its bloodshot eyes
Guttural cries
As it was left to die
In the net
Of careless fishermen
And as the violent screams of the sea
got louder
you heard a mermaid
Coughing up plastic
With oil dripping down her back
She stared at you
With her fragile face
And tired eyes
She whispered
stop. Stop
You cannot ignore me
Any longer
I am a sea of skeletons
Ghosts of your actions
I am dying
But not dead
I can be saved
She collapsed onto
A lump of plastic
Where her coral reef home
Once lied
And finally closed her eyes
The ocean went silent
Mother Earth could not save them
Only the humans could stop the mayhem
But your mama didn’t see that.
The world didn’t see that.
You were the only one
Who saw the awful reality
That mankind try to ignore
You saw the suffering sea life
You heard their tortured voices
And you took your chance
To save the ocean
Works Cited
I was inspired partly by the untitled poem by Tayllor Johnson.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160321-coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-climate-change/
Peanut: The Story Behind a Poor Turtle Deformed by a Six-Pack Ring
Reflection
Reflection
Mama represents everyone who ignores ocean pollution. Mama is everyone who refuses to acknowledge their own contributions to the deaths in our oceans. Mama is everyone who puts no effort into saving the ocean. However, this poem is in the second point-of-view. It is through your eyes. The reader’s eyes. It is through the reader’s eyes because they are now becoming the informed one. The reader is not like Mama; the reader knows and acknowledges the growing dilemma that the ocean is in. The reader is willing to help. I hope to transform the reader from “Mama” to “You.” We should all be like “you” because we all need to help if we are going to save the oceans. If the reader had no idea how the oceans are being harmed, then they do after reading the poem. They have been exposed to the usually silent voices of suffering sea life, as well as imagery of the true horror beyond the shore. Many people never see the pollution in person, but they can through my poem. I know that my poem does not explain all about ocean pollution, so I hope to inspire readers to keep researching. I hope to inspire readers to be the voice for the silent sea life.