Social Concern Poem: Oil
Again?
Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Black cyanide in liquid crystal
I just hope that it won't
end up like Valdez
Why?
Why must this happen?
Tragic tales of tarnished turtles,
Seals, sea lions, all blackened by the
Sickening suffocating stuff.
How?
How much more evident must it be?
rotted remains Comprised of alkanes
are hidden for a reason. They are
Cursed, like mummies, awakened by foolish men.
Couldn't?
Couldn't Exxon have done something?
Fixed the radar, rested the third mate?
Never put a man unfit
On an important job
Do?
Do oil companies ever learn?
BP, Exxon, gross carelessness,
all synonyms now.
Never fix their mistakes in time.
What?
What are they thinking?
burning the oil to get rid of it?
Disregarding consequences gets us nowhere.
We just end up back at Valdez.
Explanation: This poem is in a format known as "echo," in which the subject switches in a consistent pattern between two sides or sections of the same voice, in this case an inner dialogue of a man learning about the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill, and his thoughts while finding out about the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. This is done in order to establish a link between events of the past and present. I also used the "mummies, awakened by foolish men" simile in another attempt to connect these events to past ones, since mummies are generally associated with Ancient Egypt. This is meant to make the reader think about two of the major themes of the poem: the fact that powerful people can still make huge mistakes, and that people in general often make the same mistakes over and over, never learning. The first theme, perhaps most apparent in the fourth stanza, the second, exhibited in the fifth stanza, the simile in stanza three, and the metaphor in the first stanza are all designed to make the reader think, and wonder if disastrous mistakes like these will happen once again in the future.
Gulf of Mexico oil spill
Black cyanide in liquid crystal
I just hope that it won't
end up like Valdez
Why?
Why must this happen?
Tragic tales of tarnished turtles,
Seals, sea lions, all blackened by the
Sickening suffocating stuff.
How?
How much more evident must it be?
rotted remains Comprised of alkanes
are hidden for a reason. They are
Cursed, like mummies, awakened by foolish men.
Couldn't?
Couldn't Exxon have done something?
Fixed the radar, rested the third mate?
Never put a man unfit
On an important job
Do?
Do oil companies ever learn?
BP, Exxon, gross carelessness,
all synonyms now.
Never fix their mistakes in time.
What?
What are they thinking?
burning the oil to get rid of it?
Disregarding consequences gets us nowhere.
We just end up back at Valdez.
Explanation: This poem is in a format known as "echo," in which the subject switches in a consistent pattern between two sides or sections of the same voice, in this case an inner dialogue of a man learning about the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill, and his thoughts while finding out about the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. This is done in order to establish a link between events of the past and present. I also used the "mummies, awakened by foolish men" simile in another attempt to connect these events to past ones, since mummies are generally associated with Ancient Egypt. This is meant to make the reader think about two of the major themes of the poem: the fact that powerful people can still make huge mistakes, and that people in general often make the same mistakes over and over, never learning. The first theme, perhaps most apparent in the fourth stanza, the second, exhibited in the fifth stanza, the simile in stanza three, and the metaphor in the first stanza are all designed to make the reader think, and wonder if disastrous mistakes like these will happen once again in the future.
