Endangered Ridley~

Dead Ridley Turtle: Looks as if Alive

Ah, silence too deep to unscroll

    On these polluted shores… 
Battling shadows, lights and noise
Wonder, how long can a small creature
hum and heave and gasp?
Or, fight to stay alive....
when the blood pulse a mating call!?
This is a pathetic death that manhood spills

The rule of Life speaks to me...

…. where there is Life, there is Death too!!

 Someone dies for someone to live. Ah!

Who will solve this Existential Paradox of Life?

I see the wreckage of the 'Olive Ridley turtle'
lying on the sand-muddied shore
at the edge of bay of bengal...
On this grave... the sun falls every morning
chunk by chunk,
              making the sea fly high and low... 
Foaming poison-
                                         the water rips and breaks in the dark...
The red wave of turtles 

        lumber out of the surf on these balmy nights,

         and enter the human domain

           looking for a spot to nest;

.....meaningless human disturbances 

sing the blues; disturb the mating mood
The speed of life stumbles
deep filth fills the body in itch....and slowly decay
This is the Industrial Age's gift to these mortals

Let's not waste time asking...

'Can’t these little turtles

Borrow a small passage from humans

To lay their eggs without human interference,
when we have the earth for both of us!'

I stifle a sob,
place my hand on the wet turtle...
Wheeze a while on the dry sand
Lament loudly: We know the earth's a woman

Let there be some charitable

disposition on the part of human beings.

I, as a mother know

 that to give life,

….is the gift of god. 
Let fortune drip 
                         before it leaves 
the human eye for good.

~~~

Researchers and environmentalists are worried about the mysteriously dwindling numbers of these turtle eggs.  Erosion may just be one part of the problem. A much larger issue haunts the Olive Ridleys, according to them is human interference. Trawlers and fishing boats are a threat for them, lights on shore confuse them, and they are routinely disoriented by human disturbances along the beach. 

Read here for more!

Written for Susan's Prompt : http://poetryblogroll.blogspot.in/2015/04/poets-united-midweek-motif-earth-day-or.html