A bottle with a message
floated in upon the tide.
The sea is blue and so am I,
said the note inside.
Next day on the beach,
a plastic bag washed up.
Inside, another letter:
Come rescue me. I’m stuck.
In the kelp, a cry for help:
drowning in Styrofoam,
written on a coffee cup,
beneath Latte 4 Jerome.
The day after, thin tubes
were spread along the shore,
spelling out the words:
T H E F I N A L S T R A W.
Two weeks on, the beach was plastic.
Itself, an unanswered message:
castaways washed up on the sand,
and out to sea, the wreckage.
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I read this to my students today. They are working on Change.org petitions and one is doing his on the need for alternatives to straws on campus. Thank you for giving me an excuse to read poetry to my less than enthusiastic students.
Thanks very much, Sam. Good luck in getting those enthusiasm levels up.
Thank you again for sharing. Here is another animation I created for this poem. Let me know if you want any edits. Philip. https://youtu.be/6sdDsy6RoIU
Terrific!