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N
you, Ocean
Ariel Rantung
Singapore
2019, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word

you, Ocean
your azure figure
a magnitude of magnetic tenderness,
languid against the seaside carpets
blanketing the pallid
carcasses,
the bigeye tuna, cornea now abysmal
pleading no longer for help
only wisps of chilling
muted desperation remains,
a life lost within the qualms
of human misdeeds.

you, Ocean
your bitter fragrance of death
stains my tongue,
an ecosystem fading
a crisp memory soon,
forgotten
your touch lingers
fragility still reigning
how long left do you have,
friend?

you, Ocean
crystalline corals whimper
their wounds dragging them away
the tide reeling them back in,
picturesque pain reminding us
of what we did to you, phantom
to many.

you, Ocean
me, Human
one a victim of destruction,
the other slave to
denial.

Reflection
Reflection

I think right now, as the youth who have the power to change the world, I want to create as much awareness for this issue as possible. What went through my mind when writing this poem was, how will this affect the readers? Will it make them think about what's happening right now? Will it impact them after reading it? Would it help them realize what's going on right now in the world is dangerous for us all? Although I'm young, that shouldn't be my disadvantage; it should help everyone else see and spread the importance of how me speaking about this issue could help make a difference. I got a lot of inspiration from the things around me: my straws in my juice, the plastic bags I used to help carry the groceries in and how they affected living things other than humans. I wanted to think of a way us as people could accept and see the damage done to our oceans. I've now researched so much more on the actions that I can take now; even though small steps, I've started recycling and using bamboo straws and bringing my own reusable bags. Every little step that we take for our world could help benefit the ocean and us entirely.

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you, Ocean

Congratulations winners of the 2025 Ocean Awareness Contest! View the innovative new collection of student work here!

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