Rock, paper, scissors
“Paper or plastic”
I call out to the river, as if it has a choice
Un-chosen bit of plastic flotsam 
drifts lazily, white billowed mass
undulating in the current,
Market Basket logo still
visible - 
floating advertisement flows downstream
catching briefly on twigs and rocks
Stick extended, sad fishing expedition,
a sodden reminder of human invention – 
cheaply-made goods destined to join
as kindred polyethylene spirits 
on gull-swarmed piles of immortal refuse, 
floating detritus , an eternal 
wasteland at sea
Mind drifts with the river current - 
photos recalled:
Distorted turtle shell grown around plastic ring
Contents of dead whale’s belly strewn on a beach
Skunk’s head stuck in a plastic peanut butter jar
Glass grinds back to sand
Paper mulches into earth
Rock, paper, scissors
Plastic prevails
Julie A. [Dickson] Richter
Exeter, NH 
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