[Poetry] Plastics by Anne Gruner

revolutionized human life and marine death.

A seahorse suffocates in a sandwich bag.

engulf the ocean with five trillion tons, equaling 50 billion blue whales.

A baby dolphin sinks as it struggles in a nylon net.

are eaten by all as pellets, beads, granules, filaments, fibers.

A seagull's gizzard bursts while swallowing a bottle cap. 

slay over a million creatures a year.

A tortoise with a straw up its nose cannot dive and starves.

are everywhere and last forever after being used for minutes—

beer, water, honey, salt, newborns, Mt. Everest, Mariana Trench.

Can we take up arms against a sea of troubles,

and by opposing, end them?

Can the nations draft a treaty

to stop the scourge?

Can scientists embed an enzyme

to render plastic truly biodegradable?

 Before the sea sleeps the sleep of death.

Anne Gruner is a previous Pushcart nominee whose poetry has appeared in over a dozen print and on-line publications, including "Amsterdam Quarterly Review," "Beltway Poetry Quarterly,” “New Verse News,” "Topical Poetry," "Honeyguide Literary Magazine," "Written Tales," Spillwords," "Humans of the world," and "Jalmurra." Her other works have appeared in "Persimmon Tree," "Third Flatiron Review," "Constellations: Journal of Poetry and Fiction," "Hippocampus Magazine," "Avalon Literary Review," "Silver Blade Magazine," and others. A former CIA analyst, she lives in McLean, Virginia with her husband and two Golden Retrievers. https://www.annegruner.com/