COMPLAINT by Daniel Lin

Complaint

A
SEA
A
FLAME

This slick is vinaigrette flambé
Pero, pero
Where’s the fresh, green salad?

The dying animals should sing a ballad
In Esperanto or other language of hope.
The guilty should wash with Castille soap
Until their dry, papery skins flake

NOT
FOR
THEIRS
BUT
FOR
OUR
SAKES

Answer

If you leave you’ll be a vacui
If you stay you have our guarantees
If you leave you’ll feel a vacui
If you stay we’ll buy you water skis

~~~~~~~~~~~~

STATEMENT
In the condensed lingo of the internet: bpNichol > BP oil. This poem considers the practice of in-situ burning of oil slicks, setting the sea aflame to burn oil and sea turtles alive.

I owe a debt to the beautiful 8-line poem by Canadian concrete and sound poet bpNichol:

A
LAKE
A
LANE
A
LINE
A
LONE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Daniel Lin is the publisher of the small press Love Among the Ruins. He has a chapbook from Nightboat Books and has recently published poems in Octopus, Sink Review, Notre Dame Review, and Realpoetik.