“Fish and other marine life could be left gasping for breath in
oxygen-poor oceans for thousands of years to come if global
warming continues unchecked, scientists warn in a new study.”
–National Geographic News; Jan. 28, 2009
Dead Zone
You are sequestered in water
I am confined by the air
You are scaly and finny
I am soft-skinned and fair
I am a reader of volumes
You are a swimmer in time
You read the text of the ocean
I stroke the sea of my mind
You draw your breath from a liquid
I take mine from a gas
I am as slow as a dimwit
You are exceedingly fast
I know little of coral
You know nothing of trees
You know the feel of a current
I know the touch of a breeze
You seem content to be fishy
I’m seldom content to be man
You take pleasure in isness
I take it however I can
Your limit seems bounded and narrow
I think my limit is none
I die by the bounty I squander
You die by the damage I’ve done
By Jim Culleny, December 7, 2009