Maris’s Lament

By the shore,Maris sits, eyes watery blue,

Watching the waves, yearning to renew.

"Wouldn’t you rather," the breeze whispers low,

"Be under the sea where the coral forests grow?"

Yet Maris sighs, her heart burdened, torn,

"Once, the ocean was my home since I was born.

But your gifts of plastic, tossed without care,

Have built a prison in my ocean’s lair."

At first, it seemed like a dream, convenience alive—

Bags and bottles, to help you survive.

But each gift that drifted, that seemed so small,

Became a monstrous wave, consuming us all.

Now Maris drifts, her home just a ghost,

The sands and the currents now choked and lost.

"I cannot return, I feel so alone;

My ocean’s in ruins—its beauty overthrown."

"What must we do?" the voices cry out,

"Tell us, Maris, show us a route.

We long to help you return to your place,

To the deep sea’s blue, its vast, open space."

Maris replies, her voice soft as the tide,

"Open your eyes, let awareness be your guide.

Why do you cling to this plastic you love,

When it weighs down the seas and the skies above?"

"Look back in time—did your elders not know?

They drank from a cup, watched gardens grow.

They carried their baskets, their cloth bags in tow,

Before plastic arrived, stealing life’s glow."

"So promise the future, the oceans, the trees,

To find a new way—let our waters breathe.

The price of convenience, oh, so heavy it stands,

Our planet’s redemption rests in your hands."

"In waters clean, I’ll swim once again,

My friends and my home restored without end.

For on this blue planet, together we share,

In water, in air—a world without despair."