Читать книгу Cold Pastoral - Rebecca Dunham - Страница 18

BLACK HORIZON

Grand Isle, Louisiana, 2010

Post-Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Like ribbons of kelp, they wash up

bark-black and stretching

far as the eye can see—boys

sway in the waves, skin sheened

in oil as they toss the tar balls.

A quick game of pickup.

On the shore, cleanup crews

weave a path between beach

towels, Hazmat-suited,

shovel and plastic bag in hand.

It never fails to shock: dark

pools oiling sands of blinding

white. I load my open palms

with them, testing their heft.

These scales cannot be balanced.

And always more cresting

the waves, merciful as death.