I never loved that dirty water
but adored its potential.
Cluttered with cigarette butts,
beer cans, industrial waste,
it was capable of so much more
than being Boston’s major embarrassment,
but how do you remove the flavouring
once you’ve dumped it in the Ramen?
With wetlands as a filtration system
we reclaimed the neglected resource
transformed the former disgrace
into a polished ecological gem
a year-round wonder of wildlife,
destination for families to recreate.
My children are too young to recall
tea-coloured waters too polluted to house
mergansers, golden eyes, or eiders;
they only know the excitement of cheering
teams of athletes from all over the world
as they race at the Head of the Charles Regatta.
Elaine Sorrentino, author of Belly Dancing in a Brown Sweatsuit (Kelsay Books, 2025) has been published in journals such as Minerva Rising, Sheila Na-Gig, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Gyroscope Review, Ekphrastic Review, Quartet Journal, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Cool Beans Lit, and Haikuniverse. A lover of ekphrastic poetry, she is facilitator of the Duxbury Poetry Circle in Duxbury, Massachusetts. www.elainesorrentinopoet.com/