Dreams of a Drenched Deity | Poetry

Ocean pollution poetry from the perspective of the ocean

Written by Venus Aradhya,14

Washington, USA

Imagining is a pastime that possesses me while I lay here idle yet occupied

In my mind worlds are created and destroyed in order to find harmony; A harmony among me, the ocean with a thousand gifts that I aspire to share with you, people with nothing but dreams

I exhale a breath of hope and ambition while disease contaminates my lungs

My dreams permeate through my flowing flesh, floating into the minds of you, the parasites kindling your hearts of fervor yet avarice by feeding off my aura  

I relinquish my health in the hope that you flourish, yet in response, I am provided with a malady that painfully penetrates through my heart and fills me up with preservatives that threaten to kill

Constantly I am fled with infection as I sink greater into the sea of no return but I refuse to fall

Nevertheless, I imagine a world where I give you the chance to breathe and in return, you promise to rid me of impurity as well as barring chemicals from abusing my peace 

In my waves, you voyage following a journey destined to be the backbone of your lives

I open my arms widely for your trek through my waters yet you greet me with a thick black liquid that oozes through my skin finding a passage to enter and end the lives that lie deep within

It poisons me down to the deepest it can flow yet still I permit you and your ships to roam freely within my walls with all good intentions in hope that you will recognize your infernal flaws

My mind guides you down the valid path yet you stray and agonize me with your barbaric oil

Nevertheless, I imagine a world where I provide a gateway to infinite opportunities in other lands and in return, you promise to save me from the torchers of that black destruction

Below my surface lie the secrets of creatures whose fates lay in the palms of your hands

In the depths of my soul are thousands of lives quenching your continuously growing hunger yet you persistently take fish until meager amounts remain replenishing for you to take once more

They swim helplessly fleeing from your grasp but you seize them with your cruelty so that none remain and I am left betrayed once more at your greed for taking advantage of my gifts

Nevertheless, I imagine a world where I will still give you the food you need to embark on your journey through life, but you promise to leave enough for this majestic underworld to flourish 

Within my contents, I have blessed you with ailments to several diseases you have conjured 

I allow you to heal menacing boulders that obstruct your path towards good health while you fill me with dangerous plastics that trap my inhabitants and suffocate me from thriving

I mend your faults that have ravaged the climate by regulating it through my flowing kindness yet you continue to rampage with your technologies that might help you, but they deplete my resources, demolish my home, and spring you through a rabbit hole that leads to devastation

Nevertheless, I imagine a world where I cure you and the climate of your aching illnesses if you promise a clean bed for me to sleep in and a safe home where my critters can wake

Your selfishness blinds you from reality that no matter how much I sacrifice on your behalf, you take with no limits nor do you care for what happens to me once what you need is in your grasp

Nevertheless, I imagine with all my hope that one day, we will live in harmony, knowing with effort, it is a promising future, for that is my one and only dream

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Artist's Statement

I have always cared deeply about the environment and how I reflect upon it because I know that this is the world that future generations will grow up in. Several visits to different beaches have shown me how different places across the world have their own problems dealing with trash and pollutants, yet most have done barely anything to decrease the impact. I tried to write this poem, not from the perspective of us, the people who are causing this ruin, but the ocean, which we are ruining. I wanted the poem to portray the role of the ocean which we depend so much on and show how much it gives us compared to how we treat it. Many people may not care too much about the state of the ocean, so I hoped this poem would display just a few of the hundreds of ways it assists us every day. Through the process of understanding the environment, I have grown from several lessons that make me aspire that one day, I won’t only need to speak out about climate change, but I could create solutions as well. I hope that one day, sooner rather than later, everyone will realize that we only have this one home that has blessed us with everything we need, so it is our job to work together and put aside our differences in order to preserve its health.