Poison on our Shores

Long before this oil spill became bigger than big news, I mouthed the words, "they hit a volcano". I never dreamed they would use that term countless times hence. My mind wandered to the vision of sub-seabed oil that may be necessary to lubricate the tectonic plates now gushing into our oceans. Mother Earth had been egregiously violated.

We have all watched the horror growing; the crude oil spewing like vomit onto our beaches, onto our babies bodies who frolick in the sea then scream "get it off me!", onto our sea creatures, confused and dazed while petroleum which can penetrate the cells of any living organism toxifies and kills. We have shaken our heads in disbelief that such a dangerous element could be allowed in the first place, as if we let our children play with fire hoping they wouldn't get burned. We shout out at rallies and the government officials. We play the videos and shoot it to everyone on our email list. We hear from our loved ones in the Gulf states who do not fudge on the truth. We look at the tar balls on the beaches once swarming with eager tourists. We study the oceanographer reports, the marine biologists, the experts who are telling a different story or a more expansive story. We hear the cry of many who think this was no accident. We want to trust but thats out the window. Then we are left with a solemn thought.

That pinprick thought sears through our hearts and minds imploding like grenades where our most private emotions reside. We ask the questions we dare not want to know the answers of.

Can this one unspeakable event change the world as we know it?

Can the possibility of a seabed collapse, a tsunami, a tectonic shift affecting the most coveted and talked about Madrid fault, a horrendous spread of disease from toxic oil rain, hurricane sweep take out millions of people who live in that part of the country and what then?

Even the optimists are pissed off and open mouthed about the consequences. This is not going away. This cannot be resolved in our lifetime. Coral reefs are affected that are millions of years old. Viable Plankton is gone -- the major sustenance for all sea creatures. The spread is finding its way to the Caribbean and beyond.

In addition, we have covertness, irresponsibility and mismanagement at the helm. We have our first Amendment rights severed at the Gulf so we have to depend on the few who know and will post. And we don't even have a State of Emergency Announced. Our fishing trade is gone. Our tradespeople have lost their jobs, perhaps their homes. Our workers in the Gulf on the cleanup are sick and hospitalized. Our children are having chemical reactions systemically.

Is this the beginning of the end of our country as we know it?