An Ernest Snare
Janet Kuypers
started 5/2/25, completed 5/5/25
Born in Oak Park and staring at that Chicago skyline,
Ernest Hemingway held his breath for Marlene Dietrich
As the two wrote letters for 30 years before his death.
Marlene Dietrich, the femme fatale in fishnet stockings
(That Ernest Hemingway never got past, or got through)
Probably never realized that fishnets could be so —
So detrimental to marine species. Because some do-
Gooders might have issue with fishermen killing so
Many fish because it’s their livelihood, but fishermen
Decided it costs less to just dump their fishnets into the
ocean once they get flimsy instead of bringing them
Back to shore to recycle the plastic — that now seems to
Seep into everything the marine wildlife consumes.
Now, you have to search for it to learn that humans injest
A credit card-worth of plastic every week, and maybe
For those eating fish it comes from fisherman’s trash—
Because further research shows that their waste counts for
Up to twenty percent of the planet’s plastic waste.
And almost half of the waste in the great garbage patch
In the Pacific (And I thought plastic bottles were the culprit—
And they may be for us stupid consumers, but no one
Realized that fishermen could be doing this much
Harm.) Now, I have no idea how many fish get snarled
In those discarded fishnets, I mean, back in the day
They did their job, but once they were discarded, no
Fish were ever caught in their seductive snare,
Like those fishnet stockings Marlene Dietrich wore
That Ernest Hemingway may have been lost in,
But could never master. Like fish caught in the nets,
Like the masses duped into that ease of the throw-
Away mentality of plastics discarded with no perceived
Consequences, like a man transfixed on those sultry
Legs in fishnet stockings. It really is a vicious cycle.
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