Larry Bear and the Oil Spill

Larry the bear travels everywhere.

He lives on a ship and plays sweet music.

His friend, the wind, blows soft into his sail

Moving him onward, a fresh ocean smell

Larry Bear breathes a big breath of fresh air

Then brushes his teeth and combs his long hair.

He spends most of his days far out at sea

Fishing and playing the ukulele!

When the fish in the water hear his song,

They swim to the surface and dance along.

Larry Bear dances above on his ship!

He spins and caws with his pretty bird Skip.

“Ahoy!” sings Larry, while Skip looks cute

And they sail all day across the big blue.

The ocean sways for them. It cradles them home.

With all that’s inside her, they’re never alone.

He’s friends with the fish, one whale and a bird.

A wise old turtle, with tales never heard.

Like one of a drill brought here by the man

To drill up oil from under the sand

The pipes bring it up onto a huge barge,

It’s refined with stuff and used to fuel cars.

This made the man happy and full of greed

‘Til the big drill broke and spilled in the sea

The whale’s spout was black with fresh spilled oil,

And the dancing fish began to spoil.

The turtle got oil under his shell

He couldn’t swim around very well.

The air filled with smoke, ruining the breeze,

Poor Skip sneezed and Larry fell to his knees!

From the top of his lungs he made his plea,

"We must find a way to stop all of this

before my fishy friends wash up dead.

Because of them I am never alone.

Is oil worth it? Worth hurting their home?

The sea once blue, so clear you could see through,

Is filled with black gloops the fish eat for food.

And the birds, whales and everyone else, too,

Are getting sick quick!  It’s terrible news!

But my ocean friends still have a good chance,

If parents and kids learn to change their plans.

If they choose to rides bikes and park their cars,

They can choose to use less, it’s not too hard!

Because to conserve things and buy local

Can really cut down on all that oil!

We should use wind, or power from the sun

To fuel our gadgets and transportation!

Because as we have seen, oil’s no good.

It hurts us all in my neighborhood.

That one choice will be the voice that tells earth,

We want to help and we value its worth!

Will you choose to plant a baby tree?

To provide us with oxygen to breathe?

Will you choose to keep the big ocean blue?

Will you ask your parents to choose it, too?

The choice is now yours! So try and choose right!

Then my friends and I can sleep sound at night.

New choices will come each day that you wake.

You must learn to choose each choice that you make.

The things you choose now decide the future.

There are lots of things to love and nurture. 

So start with yourself! Start with your own health,

And remember good decisions are your greatest wealth!"