Writing Contest Winners 2017-2018
First Place, Grades 6-8
Bryan Zhang
Grade 7, Jonas Clarke Middle School, Lexington
Kenny Laxague, Teacher
From Dirty Coal to Glittering Diamonds
As the sun sets on the harbor,
The light doesn't reflect on the waves,
Ships slice through the oily water,
Trash lines the breakwater.
Scum full of plastic and oil float on top,
Sewage surges out of the pipes unable to stop.
A plume slices and billows through the night,
Lit by a lone flicking streetlight,
The Harbor Islands lie cold and still,
Because of the water-based landfill,
Spectacle Island a floating pile of trash,
A bulldozer once fell into the stash,
Where Old Ironsides is proudly docked
Where John and Samuel Adams began to talk,
Where tea spilled out in midair
Lies in silent disrepair.
There was no place to treat the waste,
For no one thought of it in their haste,
Three islands dumped all day,
Gushing sewage into the bay.
Building treatment plants to stop the worst
Nut Island shall be the first,
We'll build a bigger one up north,
Deer Island shall have one henceforth,
Completed in nineteen sixty-eight,
It forced the sewage flow to abate,
Yet the flow nonetheless was too much,
The harbor was still in its clutch,
Sludge was still pouring and rushing out,
But it could make good fertilizer without a doubt,
Growers and gardeners are now content,
But the Clean Water Act still said 80 percent,
We'll make it cleaner just wait and see,
We'll clean the entire sea!
We'll make it into a thriving water heaven!
And so they did in 1997.
Now Georges Island is known for its fort,
Ships are now happy to dock at port,
Little Brewster Island has the Boston light,
The oldest lighthouse in America lighting the night,
Strolling on the Harborwalk,
Watching seagulls dive for haddock.
During the day, you can take a harbor cruise,
See all the islands that you choose,
Walking the trails,
Sharing the tales,
Camping at night,
Watching the stars that glow bright,
And watching the ocean,
Oh, what a sight!
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