Brod Bagert - If I...

If I…
by
Brod Bagert

My name is Alyssa Keaton, I’m 11 years old, I’ve been watching the news on television about the big oil spill messing up the Gulf of Mexico, and I decided to write a poem about it.

If I...
 
     If I were a porpoise with a powerful tail,
     I’d slap you human beings in jail.

     If I were a pelican covered with goo
     I’d want to smear that oil on you.

     If I were an oyster… you’d see me cry…
     I had to watch my whole world die.

But I’m a human, and I’m making a fuss,
cause this whole stink got started with us.
Every-place we go! Every-thing we touch!
Do we have to mess things up so much?

So I’m just a kid, but I’m taking a stand
for the good of the sky and the sea and the land,
and from where I stand it’s plain to see,
the future begins today. With me.

And someday I’ll know, when that future is past,
I was one of the first. Don’t you be the last.

© 2011 - a work in progress by Brod Bagert. All rights reserved.

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Today is Earth Day and also two days past the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy... and here we have Brod Bagert using poetry and perspective not only to talk about the world, but to let his audience know that they have a voice, too. At the same time, the poem has a light touch (like last year's Personification) so you don't feel all, well, all covered in goo.

I like how the poet not only writes from another point of view, but also gives us details about whose view we're getting. It adds another layer to play with and, having had the good fortune to see a few other poems, I know it is something that Brod Bagert is playing with in very interesting ways. If I... is a perfect poem for this particular Poetry Friday (with the weekly roundup of goodies hosted over at the Book Aunt), and it's just one of the reasons I'm so happy to have Brod Bagert here again as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

We ended yesterday with Julie Larios and Far from Home. Tomorrow... Bobbi Katz with Haiku for a Jiving Djembe! For more information on 30 Poets/30 Days and how to follow along, please click here.