Bystander

i.
At the very least:
junk floating

in our oceans.

ii.
While it is still possible
to choose to not look

it is impossible to continue
to not see

© Karen Neuberg


Marine Pollution - Centuries of Abuse Have Taken a Heavy Toll
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Karen lives in Brooklyn NY. Her poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies. She has always lived near the ocean.

Perpetuity

Unrelentingly,
water pours
for the next 100 years

swollen with radiation.
The fish have not been told.
Nor birds warned.

Clouds lift mist & vapor,
rain it back down
10,000  & more miles away.

The children are swaying
in our arms. They cannot drink
the milk. Mothers help them

put on their masks. Fathers
weep. Whoever remains
will hear the stories

that will grow like cancers.
Whatever remains
will glow in the dark

bone by bone.

© Karen Neuberg

Japan Held Nuclear Data, Leaving Evacuees in Peril
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Karen lives in Brooklyn NY. Her  poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies. She has always lived near the ocean.