Tarballs
Garry Breland
Dinosaurs for many eons ruled
This planet eating from its vegetation
Dying all, they had a transformation
Pooled within the ground they turned to fuel
Carbon storage captured from the sun
For the race of men who think they’re wiser
Punching holes in earth to find a geyser
An industrial revolution had begun
No matter what, sometimes we’re going to spill it
‘Cause wells and ships and pipes will ever fail
We blame the oilmen, at our leaders rail
But when my tank is dry, I want to fill it
Thunder lizards roam the land once more
And leave their oily footprints on our shore.
This planet eating from its vegetation
Dying all, they had a transformation
Pooled within the ground they turned to fuel
Carbon storage captured from the sun
For the race of men who think they’re wiser
Punching holes in earth to find a geyser
An industrial revolution had begun
No matter what, sometimes we’re going to spill it
‘Cause wells and ships and pipes will ever fail
We blame the oilmen, at our leaders rail
But when my tank is dry, I want to fill it
Thunder lizards roam the land once more
And leave their oily footprints on our shore.
Garry Breland is a native Mississippian who spent much of his life out of the south. His day job is academic vice president at William Carey University, in Hattiesburg, MS. He and his wife (a college English teacher) have two children and two grandchildren.
The Spill
In 2010, when the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill exploded and threatened the way of life that Gulf Coast residents know and love, West Florida Literary Federation offered an outlet for expression. During the six months when the uncapped well gushed, and for one year following the successful capping of the well, writers, poets and photographers from across the country sent us their words, thoughts and feelings, thereby providing a literary record of the Deep Water Horizon environmental disaster. Here are the best of the submissions.CONTENTS
Photo Essay
A Tale of Two Beaches: The BP Oil Spill, Before and AfterProse
Nirvana No MoreWe Need New Legs
Watching the Beach Workers
The Daydreams of a Believer
Viewpoint
The Last Swim
Poetry
HUCKSTER (OIL SPIEL)SLOW DROWN
Pensacola Beach
Our Loss
He Got His Life Back
Haiku
THE REAL QUESTION
EXPLOSION OF THE BP MACONDO OIL WELL
Brutal Performance
Black Gold
B R I T I S H P E T R O L E U M
Dangerous People
All Is Not Well & Other Unpleasant Realities (Courtesy of BP)
Four Haiku
But, especially,
The Blackness Carnivals
Mississippi Coast Lament
Tarballs
Reaper Screaming in The Gulf
Capped
spill
DON’T TOUCH OUR PROFITS
ONLY A MEMORY
DAY FORTY-FIVE OF THE DEEPWATER DISASTER
THE ENERGY POLICY ACT
Black Death