when the ocean bleeds
I love the ocean. But I also fear and respect it for it's power. As a child, my cousins and I would jump into the sea off a pier, and catch catfish. How fool-hardy then, but the sea water is cool and inviting on a hot day. As I grew older I found there is nothing better to calm your emotions than sitting at a breakwater and watch the waves coming to shore.
The ocean is not what it used to be. It is wounded, tired. Walk along any beach, and you will see what the waves bring in. Plastics, oil, debris, dead wildlife. 70 over percent of the earth is ocean, regulating weather, providing oxygen, food. That's an awful lot of ocean, but it is still finite...
I am not an environmentalist, but this is the only earth we had...
image from imageafter.com
when the ocean bleeds
time is short
the tide rises
rusted hulls
bleed ochre blood
to the seas
and washed up
on the shores
driftwood dead corals
oil slicks
rainbows still dance
on wounded membranes
a child picks
a seashell
from the sands
but the shell
is pitted and chipped
and bleached
and if she puts
the shell
to her ears
it is not the roar
of waves she hears
but the whimper
of an ocean in pain
10/02/2009
**********
We never know the worth of water, till the well is dry.
-- Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732
This new poem (though it has been sitting in my hard disc for some time) is shared on Poetry Pantry #133 at Poets United.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2013.
The ocean is not what it used to be. It is wounded, tired. Walk along any beach, and you will see what the waves bring in. Plastics, oil, debris, dead wildlife. 70 over percent of the earth is ocean, regulating weather, providing oxygen, food. That's an awful lot of ocean, but it is still finite...
I am not an environmentalist, but this is the only earth we had...
image from imageafter.com
when the ocean bleeds
time is short
the tide rises
rusted hulls
bleed ochre blood
to the seas
and washed up
on the shores
driftwood dead corals
oil slicks
rainbows still dance
on wounded membranes
a child picks
a seashell
from the sands
but the shell
is pitted and chipped
and bleached
and if she puts
the shell
to her ears
it is not the roar
of waves she hears
but the whimper
of an ocean in pain
10/02/2009
**********
We never know the worth of water, till the well is dry.
-- Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732
This new poem (though it has been sitting in my hard disc for some time) is shared on Poetry Pantry #133 at Poets United.
© cheong lee san ( dsnake1 ) 2013.
Labels: environment, landscape, Poetry, pollution
posted by dsnake1 at 12:01 AM
11 Comments:
the whimper of an ocean - powerful
http://llmcalling.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/showing-that-you-care.html
I am a desert dweller who treks annually to the ocean. Your work and writing here resonate with me on so many levels. Water is key...
No poem could affect me more deeply than this - the whimper of a sea that is burdened with our waste and misuse. This poem hits straight to my heart and my spirit. Thank you for writing it and helping us to see it through your fresh eyes.
ugh...isnt that the truth...you dont have to be an environmentalist to see what we are doing..the way we treat our earth is dispicable...your title is evocative....felt that whimper as well...
Oh, this is a painful poem. I understand the ocean's pain. I have recently heard that on certain beaches of Hawaii so much stuff is washing up that should not be in the ocean at all. Many people are employed to rid the beach, but still it continues.....and, of course, all the tsunami wastes don't help! A strong poem. I feel it. Thanks for sharing here at the Poetry Pantry.
Extremely accomplished and very readable. Clever to turn such a frightening message into poetry.
I made a trip to the Gulf of Mexico last summer and BP's bleed was still making a mess of things.
I thought your preamble was so well expressed that it was already poetry - then I read the poem, which took language to greater heights, and saw the difference between prose and poetry.
And then there's the message - which is so important. I don't understand why you say you are not an environmentalist. when clearly you care about the state of our environment. Perhaps you have very specific ideas about what an environmentalist is or is not? I can't speculate on what such ideas might be, but I think this beautiful poem makes a compelling case for looking after our environment better than we have been doing, and I wish it would be read far and wide.
Emma,
thanks for visiting! :)
Kim,
water is key, no doubt. most people takes it for granted, but certainly not desert dwellers. :)
Sherry,
thank you for your lovely comment. the ocean is indeed burdened with our waste and misuse.
Brian,
urgh! right, as if it is not bad enough, the abuse goes on.
Mary,
i used to visit a local beach known as White Sands (translated from Malay) but the sand ain't white anymore. the debris from the tsunami show how far pollution can travel.
aprille,
thank you so much. :)
Libby,
BP's oil spill in the Gulf was one heck of a disaster. the impact will still be felt long into the future.
Rosemary,
thanks for you very insightful comment. i said i am not an environmentalist because i think he/she is an activist too, one who is not only very passionate about the cause but also not afraid to dirty the hands. but yes, i am concerned about the environment, and will try my bit in not making it any worse.
it's great to read a comment like yours. really appreciate it. :)
Good stuff, dsnake. Very true I think. I've done beach cleanups. It's sad the amount mess there is.
that's action, raven, the beach cleanups. :)
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