Poem written by Kya Knight (BFD Intern)
Performed at the Research Frontiers Symposium 19 June 2025
A vast emptiness swallowed the sphere’s surface with a deafening silence,
Loud enough to rival the rave raging below,
A serene sound yet to be interrupted.
Plates collided, depositing subducted sediments in slapdash style,
Coral clung tightly to the mounding me lange, like scales on skin,
Piling high, piercing the pristine peace of the surface.
And from the depths she rose,
Glistening, shimmering, shining,
A white diamond surrounded by sapphire seas.
Life emerged from the limestone,
Towering treetops cascaded into bearded fig tree vines… tumbling into the sea.
Waves roar in opposition to the cliffs, in a battle of dominance.
The sea claims to be victor,
Swearing to wage conquest on the land it fought to devour long ago.
Amidst the cliffside squabble, waters lay calm,
Calcified marine monuments… a sight to behold,
Adorned in bold jewelry that changed with the tide, inviting peering pescados to partake in the preening,
Existing in ecological harmony.
Those sitting presently are fond of past tenses,
Trying desperately to grasp fading memories.
Tremendously thirsty Hobie Cats slurp speedily from Six Mens,
Traveler’s towers blind shoreline drives,
A sore sight for local eyes,
Yet we have ourselves to blame.
The greed of commercialization… a fatal flaw,
But we crave the gambling game.
Conniving companies diving at any opportunity… an ecological tragedy.
Once bountiful blue basins,
Now steaming seafood boils,
Stale soup bowls with scents of souring sea egg… the new normal.
Another 1.5 degrees and we will see,
Fish flee the flaming seas, Leaving frustrated fisherfolk for naught, as they fumed over failed flings of the net,
Only to be knotted with swimming sargassum,
The best, fresh, catch of the day!
If only we endured its sweet stench…a feast could be had,
Gorging on its abundance… our hunger satiated at last.
Brick by brick, the thicket, thins,
Marshlands into wastelands,
Dry and desperately desolate,
Misshapen microbes murdered in cold blood,
Slaughtered silently, trapped beneath towering timber.
Mangroves mutilated by the materializing mountains of muck,
Perilously… problematic… polluting particles prancing,
Performing pasodoble and pirouettes,
Dancing to our demise.
A race to reverse the accelerating rate of reduced resources,
To analyse, strategize and allocate,
A plan to put the seas at ease,
To let them breathe.
Devising a design to divide marine materials meticulously,
A break from the strain of humanity,
A consensus of compatibility.
Subaquatic supporters sleep soundly in sea sanctuaries,
Riveting reserves rescue recovering reef dwellers,
Coves of coral cradled by the calm,
Cuddled by crabby caretakers carefully cleaning sprouting staghorns.
Nurturing nurseries foster flourishing communities,
Reefs bursting with biodiversity.
Biodiverse, bounties burst into open seas,
Fully grown and ready to eat.
Nets filled with flying fish flicking flamboyant fins,
Dazzling dolphins display illustrious iridescent scales, as they dance beneath glistening glass seas.
Tuna's torpedoing tirelessly through the tides,
Letting lucky long liners lap up their loot.
A bountiful harvest returned once more,
The product of protecting both sea and shore.
(c) Kya Knight 2025
Cover photo credit: Clish A. Gittens