Ode to the Atlantic

Cobalt crests

Break enthusiastically

Above peaceful pools

Of navy-streaked turquoise.

Inquisitive trills

Of ruby robins

Too young to register

The malice lurking beneath

The enchanting charade

Ring brightly

Through the easy grace

Of the utopian June atmosphere.

Onyx eyes of otters dart energetically

As the elongated loafs

Of mahogany fur

Tumble playfully upon the

Golden grains.

Deep down,

In another life,

With a stronger consciousness

Not lulled by the soothing rhythm

Of the ocean’s unrelenting wane and wax,

I know better to believe the façade.

Idyllic landscapes

Simple red herrings

Distracting from the true state of things,

As brilliant sunsets before the dark.

Rainbow rivers of waste

Overflow from ostentatious landfills

Stuffed to the brim

With yesterday’s most coveted treasures.

Toxic, glittering, iridescent drops

Trickle down,

Eroding history

And memories of what once was,

Reducing once proud mountains

To anorexic hills

Quietly echoing the majesty

Of what used to be.

Angry oozes of crimson and amber

Flowing from deep jet caverns

Eviscerate all who dare to enter their path

As the gentle breeze

Helps to carry ash far and wide,

Turning all souls for miles

To inky outlines,

The screams frozen upon their visages

As permanent mementos etched

Into the dusty bones of the earth.

Boorish vats of obsidian ooze

Seep slowly to mix

With the swirling cerulean peaks,

Staining the tides

With their inescapable sludge

As a prism of inhabitants

Comes to rest at the surface.

But here,

In this moment,

On these perfectly smooth rocks

Comfortingly bleached

By years of

Unrelenting flaxen rays,

All troubles fade to black.