Santa Cruz joins in symbolic gesture opposing offshore oil drilling
On Saturday, June 26, Santa Cruzans joined hands at Main and Cowell beaches as part of a national, peaceful protest against near- and offshore oil drilling. Sparked by the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, the event was organized and sponsored by nonprofit Hands Across the Sand (handsacrossthesand.com), and had local support from Save our Shores and the Surfrider Foundation. Local ocean conservationist Lea Haratani, who will be featured in the Thursday, July 1 issue of Good Times, wrote the following poem for the occasion:
For the Gulf
On the occasion of “Hands Across the Sand”
By Lea Haratani
In these last days
we disemboweled the gut of the Gulf, and
missed the womb that could have birthed Venus
septicemia spreads
like tendrils
on her watery grave
In Japan death with honor is
called seppuku
Here we hide the traces of blood
dispersement
the truth sunken
like a pirate ship at war
each one of us, are
players in the greed that caused
the untimely death of families Pelicanadae,
Delphinadae, innocent warriors
that gave us their vertebrate
when we left the sea
and learned to breathe air
we drive our cars, blow-dry our hair
as if we understand beauty
living like drunken sailors on leave
like there is no tomorrow
The tide washed up cellophane wrapped
undignified carcasses, with
lineages that surpass human royalty
we must be bolder than love, the choice is
a million memories and no future or
a new paradigm
life without harm, collective action, the
ability to walk forward
without shame or regret
holding hands across the sand into the future
PHOTO BY: Dana Abbott
