A Poem a Day (238): Coral hearts

 

Coral hearts

The tanker ran aground on coral reefs,
Beauty meeting beast on a delicate stage.

It spilled its bowels, metal sliced open
Like a tin made for sardines, peeled back.
I wonder if they were fished near here.

How it floods out, circling, carrying far,
Turning the sea into an ink-black sink,
Glutinous hate making its deep-felt mark.

Thousands of animals, birds, amphibians,
Wetlands, rare species, a whole ecosystem.
We watch it drown on TV in a snake of oil.

Our global dependence rips out the heart
Of nature, these pristine places, our legacy.

At a time when so many reefs are bleaching,
Destroyed by climate change and man,
Our insatiable greed, the stamp of progress,
Machinery, technology, industry. Spent.

A child watching can point out what’s wrong.
Why can’t we, in our high chairs and offices?

We quash the world to power our fast lives.
Do we need so much? Can’t we let go?

I watch 1,000 tons spill out into the big blue
With nowhere to go. It spreads like hair,
Weaving itself in, damaging for decades,
Turning the oceans to ink, a pitch-black stink.

And life now hangs in the balance here.

 

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, August 8, 2020