No More!
No baby ducks
no jumping fish
It’s as if
my canal has died
Blue-green algae
pollutes Lake Okeechobee
invades
the incoming tide
As it dies
it gladly feeds
a voracious red tide
just offshore, at sea
Neurotoxins galore
multiply and grow
we just can’t
let things be
It’s happened before
2016, people said
this must
never happen again
But here we are
reliving the past
so…where has
the solution been?
In the hands of those
who do not care
at all about
our ecosystem’s life
As long as
tourists show up
politicians get paid
we bury and cover up strife
Now it’s up to us
to be the voice
for those affected
those who have died
All the fish
the dolphins
the turtles, the manatees
they deserve to glide in the tide
We must
do it for them
and for our own future
better than before
We must clean the water
at the source
sea creatures and birds
deserve so much more
This cannot happen
we must not allow it
a mere nine months
from now
Our next rainy
season around
the bend
so, how? So, how?
I don’t care about cost
I refuse
to be
hoarse
Stop the flow
from Lake O.
clean it up
at the source!
Patricia Westbrook
Cape Coral