Living On The Edge

Mesmerized by the beauty of the dawn;

I stood watching, from high above into the lawn.

It descended like a tiny parachute, 

Settling on the head of my neighbour's shih tzu;

Like an olive wreath on its tiny skull,

The deadly green plastic bag, befell.

Running hither and thither in fear, the poor creature,

Entangled it's head into the pouch.

Timely help, not withstanding,

It became a lesson, to be mentioned in passing.

Once from an errand as I returned,

Saw a scrawny bovine; 

A blue plastic bag she munched,

Right in the middle of the street,

Grabbing an early afternoon treat.

Everywhere you see, blue, green, black and white;

Plastic comes in all shapes and colours bright.

Bottles and shopping bags, all for the consumers ease,

Leaves behind footprints of carbon, impossible to delete.

High in the mountains, left by insensitive trekkers,

You'll find mounds of plastic, a complete nature wrecker.

It's found its way, deep into the sea;

Dead whales, with more than a score of plastic bags in their belly. 

Alike to the monster created by Frankenstein;

Recreated by blissful ignorance, once again.

Will not degrade, as all things must and will,

But, stay afresh for a million years, still.

Try destroying it, by fire, will emit toxic fumes in ire.

These will prove to harmful be, for the depleting ozone layer.

To eliminate completely, might not be a possibility,

But, minimize its use, would be an act of great sagacity.

It would prove a boon for future generations,

One small attempt at moderation.

Tender we must, this apology

In the interests of our ecology.