This is a poem that I wrote several years ago called 'The Blackened Bird'. The narrative of it follows somebody walking down a beach and finding a bird covered with oil. It's about nature, pollution, corruption and humanity. The bird is a symbol of and speaks of human nature and what we are doing to our earth and its beauty.
The Blackened Bird
Once, long ago, I walked down
a beach in late noon,
The sun shining sharply on
each small grain of sand,
In the clear sky I saw
shadows of a full moon,
The sky bursting with beauty
no-one understands.
The waves seemed tranquilized
by calm, serene,
The roaring rage of the once
angry wind dies down,
The majesty of the evening
wipes all stress clean,
Nature slowly falls to sleep
and loses its frown.
The calm sun sinks below the
horizon to rest,
Painting the sky with a
palette of orange-pink,
I stop my walk and stare, my
eyes start to ingest,
The sea’s glittering with
life; I forget to blink.
As I walk down the beach with
cheer, I see a sight,
A sight so sick and
disgusting it makes me retch,
A bird, feathers slick with
oil, walks with all its might,
An image containing horror
nightmares can’t etch.
The bird clings to life; life
dripping with black, slick dirt,
A blot on the dazzling beach,
the beach of glory,
It stumbles around, ensnared
in a world of hurt,
Its throat is clogged with
oil; the death will be gory.
I stare at it with disgust,
horror and pity,
It chokes on the filth of
humanity, in pain,
It collapses in the sand,
grubby and gritty,
The bird’s death is not
noble; it will die in vain.
It dies by our hand; it
chokes on our slimy greed,
It must soak in and swallow
the muck of mankind,
It did not want to eat oil;
it never agreed,
Mother Nature must suffer
because we are blind.
Everything starts to dim and
the sand turns to ash,
The sky turns black and
acidic rain starts to pour,
I am brought back to reality
with a crash,
The beach doesn’t seem so
beautiful any more.
