On the Waterfront... Redux (poem) by Iolanthe Woulff on AuthorsDen

On the Waterfront... Redux
by Iolanthe Woulff → (All Poetry by Iolanthe Woulff)
Rated "G" by the Author.

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Written some time ago after a depressing visit to the beach, which was strewn with an extraordinary assortment of rubbish. I started thinking about every poem, song, or ditty that had to do with the water, and this was the somewhat pessimistic result. Now, in light of the catastrophic Gulf oil spill, it seems timely again.
I must go down to the sea again… tho' it ain't been clean since Lord knows when, probably something like 1610... Water, water everywhere… What a wretched stink! That brown stuff foaming over there, it can't be what I think?! All I need is a sailing ship… (Tied up fast in some rat-hole slip.) And maybe a star to steer her by… (Forget it, the smog obscures the sky.) Sailing, sailing… over the reeking sludge. The thick hydrilla's fouled the props, the rudder cannot budge... Anchors aweigh, my jolly boys… The Navy's ditchin' some surplus toys! Roll out the bombs and T.N.T., advise those skiers not to ski. Three li'l fishies and a Momma fishie too… belly-up, go floating by, An oddly cobalt hue. On a day like today… folks stroll the beach away, dodging used condoms in the sand. If everybody had an ocean across the U.S.A… I've a pessimistic notion they'd pollute 'em right away. Row, row, row your boat… Oops, the oars dissolved. Creeps in Congress want your vote, but not to get involved. By the sea, by the sea, by the poisonous sea, if we're dim, take a swim, Oh, how sorry we'll be! I'll catch typhus and V.D., You'll get hepatitis C, and e coli too, you'll see. The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat… Got sucked 'neath the bow of the EXXON GLEE, and that was all she wrote. Summertime… And the feeling is queasy. Fish are rotting, and they smell to the sky... That Old Man River… As brown as liver, caught fire and burned ten square miles to a sliver. And Old Man River keeps right on smokin' along. We humans set sail in a sieve one day, and we trashed Ma Nature's rules. We're sinking, old buddies, I'm sad to say. The ultimate Ship of Fools... LW

Reviewed by Christine Tsen

Reviewed on May 27, 2010

Okay, you're amazing. The last stanza is my favorite, I love that about setting sail in a sieve. Fabulous editorial to boot!
Blessings,
Christine

Reviewed by Patrick Granfors

Reviewed on May 23, 2010

Love it! My kind of humor infused with musical and poetic classics. Ultimate fools we are. Patrick

Reviewed by John Flanagan

Smart and funny and sad, Iolanthe, and unfortunately very apt.

John

Reviewed by D Johnson

Quite timely, and sadly, very true. Clever little you.

Cheers,
Dan