The Fight of the Great Barrier Reef

I have seen your beauty from the sky,

And the horizon in between.

I have dived below to places seen,

And admired your living body of life,

Seen by only but a relative few.

-- & --

A fragile life from a single event,

One night in October you cast your spawn,

And hope and pray it becomes a coral lawn.

One solitary night when the moon is right

Is all that your existence depends upon.

-- & --

With chances slim a new life begins,

But where new life should happen to land,

We know not nor can we command.

On ocean waves it flurries by,

But hope we all it will not be in vain.

-- & --

A life of abuse at the hand of man,

For thousands of years you have battled on,

Challenges you have already faced and won,

We can only hope that by some chance,

a new reef will one day be proclaimed.

-- & --

Cyclones from the north destroy,

Ripping your coral foundation apart,

Crown of thorns eat your very heart.

Turning your panoramic colors into ghostly grey,

For reasons we do not understand.

-- & --

Oh! great reef, you majestic beast,

We just want you know,

We hope that you have centuries, not decades left to go

Hang in there Mr Reef, please don’t disappear,

We are sorry for what's been done without a care.

-- & --

[Author’s Note: A quintain poem where the second and third lines of each stanza rhyme. The Great Barrier reef off far north Queensland, Australia is the largest living animal on the planet. Years of destruction at the hands of irresponsible human practices resulting in temperature and humidity changes that have destroyed 50% of the reef. Despite continual challenges it fights on, but for how much longer?]

Till next time

Calvin