your ocean is hurting
Fond du Lac, WI
2020, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
her feet sink in the sand,
at the place she called her home,
where every gale of wind,
reminded her of how she’d grown
the girl crouched near the shoreline,
the chilly torrent lapping at her knee,
today the water was gentle,
for it carried a message from the sea
your ocean is hurting
the girl’s rhymes became war cries,
her concern is no longer a past-time.
with seafoam-stained hands,
she drags in the washed-up trash,
dumps it on the industrialist’s table, declaring
“the ocean is rising, and so are we.”
his laugh, it sounds parched
for the water has denied him
he tears off his leather gloves,
dips his pointed fingers into a cartridge of black ink—
signs a contract to dump more poison into the sea.
his colleagues guzzle their oil,
and throw their waste into the waters,
sink black-stained teeth into a gull’s carcass,
reveling in the smell of the sea’s carnage.
the girl, she arms herself with seashells, declaring
“the ocean is rising, and so are we.”
like the tentacles of an anemone,
her words sting.
the seamen; they call her a warrior.
with lips chapped and salty from drinking the bounty of the sea,
her slender fingers weave strands of kelp into her daughter’s hair.
she holds a baby at her hip;
brings her children to the beach, says
“this is what we’re fighting for.”
and as the little girl waded in the ocean
she was given the same message.
your ocean is hurting
Reflection
Reflection
My poetry was inspired by my love for the ocean and my concern for our planet, as well as my passion for poetry. When I became conscious of the environment, I didn’t think that an ordinary teenager like me could do anything to help. I now realize that there are little things that I can do to protect my planet, such as lower my plastic usage and write poems like this one to spread activism. While writing, I was bombarded with anger and hopelessness. I felt our government was ignoring the state of the environment, and believed that by the time they took the necessary action it would be too late. Now I realize that even though there is still work to be done, there are also things to be celebrating, such as the rising amounts of activism and organizations like bowseat.org that aim to spread awareness. To anyone who reads my poems, I want to say that you have a chance to inspire change, and even though you may think that your contribution isn’t important, everybody needs to take a stand. Humanity is already being affected by climate change, and it's only going to get worse. You don't need to be a protester to be a protector; all you have to do is make the necessary changes in your own life, and try to educate others. I have hope for the planet because every day, new activists are being born.