Ode to Piney Point
To the editor:
A letter to the editor submitted during national poetry month:
I do not like DeSantis’ plan
Dumping toxics in Tampa bay again
I do not like nitrogen
Phosphorus nor radium
Not in my water, gulf nor sea
Not in my house nor community
Should toxic dumping subsidy
Agro-giants and industry
I do not like DeSantis’ plan
To lie and lie and lie again
The AP reports radioactivity
From phosphogypsum and radium
In the water dumped from Piney point dam
Scott as governor also kicked the can
And allowed the site’s uranium
To sit and sit and sit some more
Instead of removing the unsafe water store
For years now Piney point has stewed
And now, oh now, what shall we do?
One fish, two fish, how many more
Will float back dead upon our shore?
Manatee County votes so red
Their algae water’s gone green and dead
But DeSantis says what is not true
That “heavy metals”aren’t bad for you
Are housing values upward prone
When doused with ammonia nitrogen?
With apologies to Dr. Seuss.
Ellen Starbird
Cape Coral