December 16, 2019
by drplasticpicker
There once was a tidal marsh, wetlands rich with sea grass, insects and shorebirds.
1852 United States Army Corps created a dike
1946 dredging began
1962 dredging ended
Dr. Plastic Picker
A Personal Plastic-Picking Blog: Fighting Ocean Plastic Pollution One Piece At a Time
December 7, 2019
An original poem by Charlotte, age 8.
Pollutes the Earth
Littered all over the beach.
Always there.
Strong but dangerous.
Takes up space.
Icky to the core.
Creates trash.
Another poem for the same poetess entitled “HELP” https://drplasticpicker.com/help/
December 3, 2019
An original poem by drplasticpicker after a middle management meeting. Just in good fun to help me digest the topics presented today.
Today I went to a large management meeting
With doctors and nurses and managers I was seating
A VUCA world they were saying
To God we should be praying
Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity – they can be defeating
But as I sat there fading in and out of sleep
My attention the imported business paradigms did not keep
I’d rather be outside cleaning
Protecting Snowy Egrets they are preening
Vision, Understanding, Clarity, Adaptability – what the bleep?!
VUCA this, VUCA that, VUCA world, VUCA prime
VUCA past, VUCA present, VUCA future, VUCA crime
Note: This is strictly for entertainment purposes. It was a decent meeting. They ordered roast beef sandwhiches which I avoided, and I refused a plastic water bottle. VUCA that plastic!
December 2, 2019
An original poem by Charlotte, age 9
An original drawing by Daniela, age 11
The Ocean is dirty, dirty, dirty,
Has too much trash.
Maybe because of us?
Maybe because of boats?
Maybe because of sewage?
The Ocean is dirty, dirty, dirty.
We work hard to clean it up . .
So are we doing enough?
Should we do more?
Is it too late?
The Ocean is dirty, dirty, dirty.
Here is another poem by the same child poetess titled simply “PLASTIC” and a crayon drawing by Bella aged 7 “Tottie” https://drplasticpicker.com/plastic/
November 28, 2019
An original poem by drplastipicker
I flew home.
I flew home to be with my family
to be surrounded by the warmth of their bodies, the beautiful calls of my kind
I flew home to be with my friends
to move together in the sand and the air, sometimes as a line
I flew home through the storm, confident in my strength and wings
but i did not reach home
the winds were fierce, the storms were strong, and i did not have the endurance
there were little bits of plastic in my gullet that stole my strength
you are home dear human, it is Thanksgiving, and this is your beach
love your children dear human, hug your puppy dear human, and celebrate your feast
but clean the beach dear human, so that the next of my kind
can fly home
November 22, 2019
by drplasticpicker
my internal organs were eaten
my occular sockets pecked clean
i am Platyrhinoidis triseriata and i am dead
dead on the sandy shore, where drplasticpicker wanders
dead on the shore, where a Surf Rake removes the plastic debris, but also the seaweed that shorebirds need
Marbled Godwits! Whimbrels!! Snowy Egrets!!! where are you? did the Surf Rake “clean” the kelp, “clean” it from the insects and decaying kelp that keep intact the circle of life?
what is “clean?”
will someone “clean” my dead carcass?
already the seagull took the best parts, i am the ocean’s Prometheus
there comes that drplasticpicker again, always looking for her soul and deeper meaning in the waves, and little bits of plastic
dear girl. i am Platyrhinoidis triseriata , Thornback Guitarfish and i am dead.
i return to the Pachi Mamma
Addendum: I sent my poem to Scripps Institution of Oceanography and thanked them for inspiring my original poetry. I will get to meet the communications person there, when I finally return their trawl-line plastic ball that I found one morning on the beach.
Another blog post that I was feeling more sad https://drplasticpicker.com/don-quixote-is-this-a-cautionary-tale-for-drplasticpicker/
November 19, 2019
An original poem by drplasticpicker
i am long legged and elegant, my bill straight like a needle pin ever slightly upward tilting and then ends in black
November 16, 2019
An original poem by drplasticpicker
November 11, 2019
by drplasticpicker
Brandt’s Comorants, Whimbrelshttps://drplasticpicker.com/way-of-the-whimbrel/, Long-billed Curlews, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Black Turnstones, Western Gulls, Marbled Godwits, one Surfbird and Snowy Plovers. These are the threatened Pacific coastal birds I saw on one of my ocean plastic picking walks.
The half-mile stretch of beach I clean most mornings is the southernmost tip of the South La Jolla Marine Protected Area.
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