Ocean's Lament

There was a time
not long ago
before avarice
before greed
before the onslaught of
tireless acquisition
when the oceans were
filled with the living and
death did not run rampant.

There was a time
not long ago
when sticky strands of
black death and
balls of tar
did not foul the
beaches and marshes,
places of birth and renewal.

There was a time
not long ago
when the birds that feasted
upon ocean’s bounty were not
consumed by human folly.

There was a time
not long ago
when expansive islands of
Styrofoam and the detritus of
the modern age
did not awaken
itinerant sailors
to our cumulative stupidity.