Did you never think to watch the news

As you sat there on your inflatable chair 

In front of the diving-helmet TV? 

Your impending doom was on air.

They talked of what had happened,

How things would get worse –

The rising temperatures and tides

And coral-bleaching, devastating to

The reef and its endemic life.

Did you think you had enough going on

And flip the channel for some light-relief

Ignore the bio-erosion reports which warned

Of widescale sponge deaths

Unless more was done 

To halt the damage to the place which you call home?

Head in the (literal) sand or ignorance? 

Or are your madcap antics a response to this,

A situation which cannot be saved?

For soon it will be much too late 

to (literally) turn back the tide 

The pineapple will be a useless place to hide

The reef will wither, you will be forgot

And it will make no difference 

Whether you wore pants or not.

Nicki Blake / @strawberrythief is an emerging poet and writer of short fiction from Perth, Western Australia. She has been published online and in print. Nicki will neither confirm nor deny that her creativity is strongly influenced by red wine.