Untitled (Winner!)

And they will say this beast is invincible

They will let glaciers drip

And trash be muddled with the supernatural blue until we can not tell the reek of landfill and the intoxicating scent of seaweed apart

They will try to rip this universal language of unity from our throats

Until we are left stranded

High and dry

Soothing our children with old legends of whales as a tsunami of natural disasters rages on outside

They will make us survive the very force that brought us together

The very body that washed away our care in our creed

Every color in water is blissful

They will not admit they are intimidated by our collective passion

They will simply let creatures be overfished until sea turtles and bluefin tuna are more fairy tale than nonfiction

Until our children do not know seafoam

Only bubble bath

They will let this enchanted forest

Open to all

Be overrun with more plastic than ivy

Until this force that has saved us

Forced us  to love each other blindly

Is more of a force to be saved from

But we will always fight

And no, we may never restore what once was the liquid Aurora Lights

But we will never let this savior be anything less than at least a blink of light against this cruel world overwrought with reasons to turn on one another

Even at its demise

This sullen black blue is what mends our wounds

And washes the hurt away with its salty laps at our ankles

Even on its deathbed

This gentle planetary is giving us a reason to keep living

It’s whispering gently in the tides

Survive this

Together

A dashing current come to save us from our own wreckage