The Gulf of Mexico

& the Human Folly

Isn’t this a beauty? Stunning colors, fluid shapes, gentle strokes of Mother Nature’s hand, it all almost sooths you.
But proceed with caution.
Remember those spectacular pictures of other planets you’ve seen, worlds as close by as our own solar system.
Think of Jupiter being stricken by a comet a few years back or the recent photos of Saturn’s mysterious court of desolated moons. So deeply beautiful you almost want to touch it with your bare hands.
But on second thought, you don’t want to be caught dead on those grounds. That’s the beauty that killed the beast. You either drop your jaw or weep bitterly.
Because seeing this as it unfolds hurts even more.
Take the Icelandic volcano that won’t go away till you dare to pronounce its name. Its randomness and brutality could never, in a million years, be compared to this.
Because this one could’ve been avoided, since it happened so many times before.
Because, unlike those other scenarios, there’s no other way to go but here.
Because that’s the ground we’ll all be caught dead one day.
So go ahead and allow yourself a moment to enjoy the imagery.
Beauty never lasts. Only tragedy does.
Long after these shapes and colors dissolve, marine life will be still dying,
heavy metals will still taint ground water.
We’ll still be stopping at nothing to get our fuel fix.
So if we once were nothing but stardust, we may now be the stuff that makes dreams go bust.