just deserts

I wander beside the desert

unfurling like a sea

of chrysanthemum petals

wondering, Do fish swim

under those diminishing curves?

For sure, there are no crabs

to sideways scrabble scrawl

like war correspondents reporting

a retreating tide

no yellow winkles, whelks or dapper hermit crabs

to make their groove in a wave lapping LP

no flap and squabble of bright white herring gulls

to pull life up, for there is none

here, no lugworms or cockles hiding deep -

but, there

is colour! A flash of purple

snackbar wrapper, rich blue plastic string

could have a future strangling

seals. Polysterene fast food boxes

bob as well as any gull and

sanitary towels could fill

the hungry belly of a basking shark.

The beach just along this coast

someone snapped a photo

which got many smiley faces, likes

and jokes, looking like dead men's willies

they were actually sea anemones

once sucked wine-gum ruby, now bleached

from pollution and increasing heat.

We are making a meal

of tackling the effects of progress

and this is our just dessert

here are some links if you are interested :

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/plastic-recycling-export-incineration/

https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Ocean_Factsheet_...

https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/plastics_v08.pdf

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2264585-microplastics-found-across-...