A twinkle of hope

A swirling tide, a swimming life

It’s peaceful, calm, tranquil, interrupted

An omnipresent predator, stalking through the murky depths

It kills all, destroys all.

Introduced to reduce numbers, and lower numbers it did

But it never stopped

It ate and ravaged until nothing was left

The fragile ecosystem shattered. 

To exterminate the first wave, a second is released

Now a more threatening creature lurks

Waiting on a defenseless native to swim into its waiting jaws.

Corals are the same, but their predators don’t eat them

We cut off their limbs, poison their home, and introduce death into their lives

Corals are used as souvenirs

They are dried and left for dead in large farms.

Only recently have humans understood the death that occurs with invasive species

But hope still twinkles just beneath the surface 

Just out of reach.