Kick up your feet
The temptation is there
Isn’t it?
Exhale, relax, maybe stay a while
Let go of the can
Sink those feet into the warm sand
With not a care in the world

What about the turtles
and crabs and whales and dolphins?
You’d stumble on these creatures too
Maybe bat an eye
take a photo
(but throw the polaroids away anyway)
—admire their beauty
Only for a short second
Snap!
and it’s gone
Relinquished to better things,  after all

A bot wearing a smile
“I just want to read a book by the shore” you’d say
Go ahead
Enjoy your stay
The ocean is your hotel
check in check out
Lounge in a lavish seaside comfort
free of charge, no expense to ya!
It’s on the house it’s on us

“Oops!” “Ah, well…”
Do not worry! An ocean takes care
it does all
A quiet maid washing away the troubles; your cans and wrappers and tires;
your nitrogen and phosphorus too
Like new.            ...?
I wouldn’t be so sure.

Each wave sheds a tear
It’s a hard labor you put it through
Out of negligence
All because the devil
tempted your fingers
to let loose and just “fuggedaboutit”
to have the waves carry away your disposables like ants
But when you consume, it consumes
The trashcan must’ve been just far enough
to asphyxiate turtles
bleach reefs
blacken blue globes
Out of negligence
With not a care in the world

It is no getaway
Not your place to use and abuse
Oceans are the blood vessels of Mother Nature
Fragile capillaries that clot and burst

So,

Just grip those fingers a little tighter
You can still close your eyes
but squint a little at least
Spare the waves of your unknowing harm
and resist temptation
With care.

There, there.
Take a gentle tissue
and an arm around the shoulder
dry the tears of tireless waves
They endure
the scars of human war

I heard the president awarded Her a Purple Heart on live TV
You could easily see
the blow to the face
a seething wound of fragmented coral, ruptured arteries
deep with Stygian scales
but rooted to a body of vigor
an audience smiled and wept
In solemn applause
in
“support”
—denial.
unmoved in the name of convenience
they still check in check out
Everyday. Every hour.
You’re not one of them, not anymore

Although some will always be
Tempted and unknowing
You aren’t.

For you, She tears joy.
You suture Her wound