Here are two more poems by Dawn Evans Radford. In her first post, she depicted the day of an oysterman. Here we have a limerick about the oysters themselves, and a more serious piece on our relationship with our natural surroundings.
Dawn Evans Radford
Limerick
Down in the bay lived a plump little oyster
whose hormone changes eventually forced her
to fly into a tizzy.
Cried she, I get dizzy
trying to decide if I’m a girl or a boyster.
Book of the Minor Prophet
And the gods said, “Let there be light
and beaches washed in ocean salt;
and let the pristine Earth bring forth rain
forests, red clover, Georgia peaches, and
collard greens.
Let us make the sperm whale, passenger
pigeon, buffalo, and butterflies.
And let there be Man to stroll the beaches,
watch over the creatures, to sleep in clover,
eat plump peaches, and keep us company.”
Then Man saw all was good; and he said,
“Let there be fun for all and profit for me.
Now let me make benzene, Red #2, Strontium
90, cups of chemicals running over.
And let me live by megabucks, pave the
wetlands, and dump my sewage in the waters.”
Then the rivers and the sky turned gray.
The butterflies and clover lay down to die.
And the good in the Earth,
and beauty of the sea
were no more.
