the tide rises, the tide falls | an oceanic literary magazine
Drawing the Surface of the Saltwater Pond As Dusk Comes And Goes, Today or Tomorrow
by
Alexandra C. Risley Schroeder
I use pastels. Blues, smeared
with grey, white, some amethyst,
iridescent overripe peach swishing
where last of day lights the bellies
of waves green moss on the north
side in winter. A flicker of silver smudges in
plastic water bottle or the moon
I draw near-black, pricked with ivory
where small crests roll foamy
as bubbles in a glass of milk,
pale ash then flat dark sand. A wave,
first dark green then to pewter
then translucent crystalline undertones
cellophane wrap or sparkling sand
With night full-on, all is sketched
charcoal: blue tide, blue-black rush,
dark spruce water horizon no different,
big-bodied fish blink on-off like starlight,
faraway too pale to shine alone
needing moon’s old eyes to pick out
white grocery sack or reflection.
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This poem is inspired by two of the nearly one hundred climate solutions identified by Project Drawdown. Drawdown, an international effort, works across disciplines to identify actionable strategies verified by data to help the world quickly, safely, and equitably reach ‘drawdown’ – that moment when greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere begin to decline. Recycling plastics requires less energy than producing new material, relieves demand for fossil-fuel-based raw materials, saves landfill space and reduces environmental pollution. Bioplastics utilize plants as an alternative source of carbon. They often have lower emissions and sometimes biodegrade.
Alexandra Risley Schroeder, of Massachusetts, is published in Red Noise Collective, Naugatuck Review and forthcoming in Poetry Northwest. A poem was nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and a poem was longlisted in the Palette Rising Poet Contest. Her collection inspired by solutions to the climate crisis is under construction.