DO YOUR PART ON EARTH DAY

Last April, I spent one morning of a lakeside vacation picking up litter on the beach.  You’re probably thinking “How cool!” or “Eeeeeeww!”  Maybe both.  Anyway, I carefully catalogued the found items before depositing them into the nearest trash can, hoping my list would one day coalesce into an environmental poem.  It finally did:

CLEANING UP THE BEACH

Secluded and peaceful,
the shoreline entices
but Nature is watching;
she knows all our vices.

Upon her blue waters
the evidence cast;
Waves gently ensnare it
and toss it right back.

Cigarette butts,
broken glass, rubber bands
rear incongruous heads
from her silky beige sand.

Foil packets from Trojans
and mustard and relish,
and other fine products
that wieners embellish.

A bottle cap heralds
You may be a winner!
But more likely a loser,
a Coke-drinking sinner.

Remnants of fireworks,
exploded hot stuff,
as if sunrise and sunset
weren’t dazzling enough.

Mangled up hooks,
wads of snagged nylon line
near hypoxic dead zones
where the fishin’ ain’t fine.

No shells to collect,
signs of life gravely scant;
one ironic green leaf
from a cheap plastic plant.

When my labor’s complete,
rocks and sand glint and glitter
with sparkling reflections
of sunbeams, not litter.

To clean up our world,
we must each do our part.
So put down some grass roots,
grab a trash bag, and start!

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