Oh pelican, feathered friend, the beauty of thee.
Recall watching you soar over the emerald sea.
Now oil in hues of red and brown ooze through
like patches of filthy frost dusted with dirty dew.

Oh pelican, independent, staid, serene,
you’re crippled by oil’s cataclysmic cream.
Larded, limp, lost in its necrotic noose—
that this nightmare be a phantom ruse.

Once you spied your dinner from the sky,
while fish swam unaware as you’d troll ‘n fly.
Were able to snatch it in your gullet whole.
Fish flopped in your pouch in its final roll.

Oh pelican, our magnificent, feathered friend.
Your coat’s tarred with smelly oil—end to end.
You struggle to fish and nest as best you can.
Preen your wings, but now they’re useless things.

Enough! To those who gamble with health and safety,
bottom-line greedy, clean up your act—no buts or maybe.
All must adhere to an invincible environmental creed.
Remove this tragic horror stat! Bead by oily bead.