Poetry Friday is with Dave, hosting PF for the first time! You can find him HERE at Leap of Dave. He's written a funny etheree about internet ads and taken us all on a lovely bike hike, "finding castles". Thanks for hosting, Dave.
I'm remembering more about our trip to Costa Rica, finding a way to share the ocean beauty at this particular place we landed and also that thing that was not beauty. I've been to ocean shores many times and have sailed on large ships yet rarely (except on those ships) have I seen such powerful, enormous waves. We loved them and were careful to take care of ourselves lest they sweep us away.
One thing that reminded me of an Oregon coast trip was the incredible amount of driftwood brought onto the beach. Here's one picture. Some days, huge logs arrived on the incoming tide only to disappear with the outgoing sweep. We spent some time imagining what we might create if we had access (at home) to those beautiful wood pieces.
However, strewn within the wood was a lot of trash, washed up from who knows where. We found no names. Our discoveries started with a tire, which we filled the middle of day by day. I did not take a picture.
Sadly More Than a Drop
Old tire, riding the waves,
wandering across a divide
joined our vacation.
Between the nightly roaring lullaby
and the kick at the body while we swam,
you rode the amusement park ride
called the sea.
Your inside ring became our trash can,
filling up with the plastic that never dies:
bottle caps, toothbrushes, pieces of broken toys,
and the ringer of all, a small drawer.
We carried on the task every day,
wondering if what washed out again
before we found it
wandered on over to that garbage patch
everyone keeps telling us about?
And, we wondered if the ground-up pieces
we couldn't see also traveled in and out,
or nestled into the sand, waiting to be dinner
for the crabs and the sanderlings
lively on the beach?
We can read the scientists' reports:
We can read their warnings.
And back home,
we can stop
plastic use,
remembering
what that tide brought
with the beautiful wood.
But it feels
like only a drop
in the bucket.
(Oops, in the ocean.)
Linda Baie ©
Thanks for joining Poetry Friday this week. I love your poem. It is disturbing and still hopeful.
ReplyDeleteThe amusement ride of the sea...I'm carrying that line with me today.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a great line: the amusement park ride of the sea. Swimming in the ocean and riding those rides are both fun and scary! Big sigh about all that plastic. Your poem is a good reminder to go down to the beach this weekend and pick some of it up.
ReplyDeleteLinda, how beautifully you write about the wood and the waves and the sweep...and the trash, too. Thank you. xo
ReplyDeleteLinda: Gorgeous gorgeous photo, and that poem... well... it must be said. I am on a "less plastic" wave also. How to make a dent? Thanks for sharing... be well my friend!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your beautiful poem and photo, Linda, and the important reminder of the small steps we can take to help the ocean.
ReplyDeleteThe beach that I just visited had piping plovers, and the beach was closed for two weeks earlier this summer so the plovers could nest undisturbed. During that hiatus, someone stole two of the eggs (the authorities are trying to figure out the culprits). I wish we could be more careful with marine life as well. Thanks for the thoughtful poem, Linda.
ReplyDeleteLinda, your photo is so alluring. I am glad that you found the best resource for a garbage can and created a poem to remind us of environmental concerns. We did not see garbage this year in the ocean and that makes me think that people are caring for our oceans. We did see a dolphin performing. This line is wonderful: you rode the amusement park ride
ReplyDeletecalled the sea.
Linda, you describe the setting so well. The ocean scene with the drift wood is beautiful. Your thinking of ocean pollution while in that beautiful setting is appropriate. We don't want to neglect thinking of and helping to solve the environmental damage that's going on. You are doing something about it--more than a drop.
ReplyDeleteLinda, what a vivid, poignant picture you paint with your poem. I especially love "the amusement park ride/called the sea." Thanks for the reminder of how our choices impact the whole world, not just our corner of it.
ReplyDeleteGosh, Linda, the poignancy of your poem leaves me feeling almost bereft - that we so callously discard s-t-u-f-f and that it rides waves back to us, like a shameful reminder. And that shore is so gorgeous! I'm so sad to hear that our trash is scarrling such a beautiful space. But thank you for gently showing us with your poem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your bittersweet poem Linda, reminding us to be mindful of keeping all that plastic out of our waters. Gorgeous image–I love all the large pieces of driftwood that are sculptures in themselves!
ReplyDeleteLinda, your post and poem captures a lot of bittersweet. I often wonder how humans can so easily foul our own nest, so to speak. It's disheartening and very disturbing.
ReplyDelete