lament for the Gulf

the silence in the coastal communities

    is almost deafening,

as shrimp boats lie still in

    the harbor waters,

the nets on fishing trawlers wave gently

        in the soft breeze,

    the crews standing on the docks

            staring into the hopeless

                future,

    their livelihoods snatched away

        when Leviathan slipped off

        the hook set for him

            in the deep sea.

the marshlands

    echo with the cries of

        the egret and heron,

        the pelican and seagull,

           who find their sheltered

                home

            a dumping station

                    for human greed;

the turtle with its young

    plods slowly along,

    knowing they cannot outrun

        terror's tide about

        to sweep over them.

your heart is over the waters,

    Tender God,

        broken,

            aching,

                weeping,

                    longing,

        your keening voice

    joining the antiphonal

    soundings of the whales

        from the depths of despair.

(c) 2010  Thom M. Shuman