Beach Braves at Port Soif - Jean Jorgensen

True, they have their camp fires,
Their war cries and tribal chants.
But these are not proud warriors
Defending ancient lands and rights.

These are shameful polluters
Who defile our ancient shores and seas,
Their weapons the daggered shards of glass
And ruptured twists of metal
That pierce and lacerate tender paws and feet.

Then, unlike scavenging rodents
That creep silently at dusk from stony lairs
To forage deep-shadowed sands,
So these other creatures, these beach desecrators -
With vandals’ mindset sated -
Scuttle in raucous retreat into the darkness,
Their toxic dross abandoned to the night.

Jean Jorgensen
Written in outrage in 2009)