When Blue-Green is Not a Good Color Choice
Jupiter, FL
2021, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Like scenes out of a low-budget sci-fi film.
A floating mat, a grotesque goo, slowly creeps up the local waterway.
Starting small, with a pleasant-sounding nomenclature.
Much like a new sharp crayon color in the box… blue-green algae.
A culprit of climate change, they say, predicted to only get worse.
Morning news mispronouncing words, like the final round of the Spelling Bee.
Cylindrospermopsin, microcystins, and cyanobacteria.
Images of dead fish buoyant on the decomposing surface.
A pungent river, swirls of neon green, artistic eddies on a liquid canvas.
Itchy eyes, sore throats, havoc on hopes of recreational pursuits, offered with a side of economic loss.
Draining wastewater, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, flushed into septic tanks in a clockwise direction.
Old technology, uninspected, well past their ability to withstand hurricanes, thunderstorms, and flooded streets.
Havoc on groundwater, the surficial aquifer, as systems back up, then fail.
Flushed sweet sucralose, of only human urinary origin, lurking in surface water monitoring wells.
Excess nutrients, a nefarious partner, on a standoff with global warming, to become most harmful.
Terrain once lush, parched pancake brown, crunchy underfoot.
Ponds and canals, now barren pits, bereft of the capacity to sustain aquatic life.
Rising temperature leading to warmer, stagnant water, a lack of precipitation, officially a drought.
A kink in the water chain, a precursor of an invisible crisis looming in the hydraulic cycle.
Salt intruding, like an expected house guest, marine algae invading freshwater ecosystems.
The resultant water woe, an undrinkable drinking water supply; once taken for granted, in developed countries, at least.
Boiling bubbles useless against the sickening cyanotoxin, C15H21N5O7S + H2O = vomit and diarrhea.
Distribution of bottled water, reminiscent of our ancestors hauling jugs home aloft heads or overflowing buckets.
Both not knowing how long the reserve will have to last, one, three, seven days.
Maybe not a good name for a Crayola crayon after all.
Reflection
Reflection
I’ve grown up in Jupiter my whole life, and have come to appreciate and love the ocean during that time. I enjoy scuba diving, hiking, and backpacking. This interest added to my love of environmental science and conservation. I enjoy studying science, as it allows me to explore and understand more of the natural world around me. I have previously taken a few courses on marine science, and learned a lot from them, especially about conservation and Florida wildlife. My time spent fishing and SCUBA diving let me have some prior knowledge about marine species, and previous science classes taught me about the different cycles that are present in the ocean.