Poem in response to Life Below Water
February 2019
Ocean Paint
By Caroline Sun

Seagrass
covers undulating fields, whisper-soft green
Small fish
Streak, tiny orange comets in a vast ocean
Coral
bursts, fiery explosions of volcano red
Anemone
tremble, pink fingers waving lazily
Life,
nothing but
Flicks
of a brush on a blue-black canvas
Then, a flash
of black and white and grey
Plastic
tossing in the frothing
waters;
silver flecks
of aluminum, too-pale
stars in a sickly
sky;
drifting nets
unfurl, curling tentacles
reaching;
escape
escape
escape
Grey scarred hide
white bloated bags
black.
Dark,
hungry.