Sea Star Wasting Syndrome
Location
There's something poking my stomach
A sharp angry pain
It's hard to cope with
Maybe if I lie still it will subside...
Or perhaps a slow crawl is the cure...
Was it something I ingested?
Maybe that sour oyster...
Or perhaps the stale clam...
I don't understand
This tingling sensation throughout my tentacles
Five long cupped ends all in frenzy
Suddenly I spot an acquaintance, a friend
His body drapes like green sea hair
Across the sea floor
A worn cloth with holes and frayed edges
"Enter the regeneration process"
process, process, process
I don't understand...
He's flawed
Growth is inevitable
Maybe he is different...
Perhaps he's plagued...
Maybe that sour oyster...
Or perhaps the stale clam...
"How is your pain?"
Silence
"How can I help?"
A quiet reply
"I don't know...
I don't understand..."
He reaches out
His touch is weak
weak, weak, weak
He gestures ahead into the blue abyss
A greenish swirl tinted red rises up
I'm curious
Maybe a tuna struggling on the hook...
Or perhaps the sand shark devours its prey...
Maybe that sour oyster...
Or perhaps the stale clam...
One cautious crawl
One uneasy look
I don't understand!
She's staring at the inside of her eyelids
Her five long cupped ends lying aside
Cause of death...
Suicide
A cold slimy grip tightens my stomach
I don't have enough time
time, time, time
I cry sympathy!
Maybe it's Mother Nature...
Or perhaps manmade...
Maybe that sour oyster...
Or perhaps the stale clam...
I plead mercy as the sea flows with death.
Along the Pacific coast Sea Stars are dying by the tens of thousands and no one knows why...