Plastic
I
With a plastic flashlight,
We see with enhanced vision.
We make an incision in night,
We see inside the elision:
We see a plastic spoon.
We see it with misprision.
We see a plastic moon.
We see plastic sacristies.
We see the black balloon.
We see wrappers in trees.
We see plastic in its lair
Of unbiodegradable possibilities.
We see all this—reflected clear—
In an ersatz Indian’s glycerin tear.
II
O, wild west Indian, thou ghost of movies seeing,
Thou, from whose unseen presence rappers dead
Are driven like leaves from technicolor fleeing—
Yellow, orange, and McDonald red—
Our once clear streams and blue oceans
Are not just polluted but bloated
With empties of spring water and lotions—
A planet plagued and plastic-coated,
Created by the Great White Father, a demiurge
Who is naught but to whom each defers.
In the beginning was the urge
To create the miracle—polymers.
O, God—O, Madalyn Murray O’Hair—
Ungodly plastic is everywhere!
Robert Forrey, 2012
