The sea spoke up that afternoon
And said: All will be over soon
So often I am wondering if people know, she said
About the years of weariness and suffering I have had
There are days that I’m choked with the waste of the land
There are days that I feel that the end is at hand
That’s what the sea said – and she wasn’t even trying
To hide from me that she is slowly dying

I know that you have surveys and reports, she said to me
Predicting poisoned continents in a polluted sea
But all this writing-on-the-wall will quickly disappear
For interested parties just don’t want the world to hear
That’s what the sea said and there is little use denying
She’s slowly and inevitably dying

I used to feel so young at the arrival of the summer
With laughter on the beach and children playing ball
But now I feel like warning all these unsuspecting people
Look out! Coming too close may not be good for you at all
That’s what the sea said – and she wasn’t even crying
Just slowly and inevitably dying

In November and December I Sometimes lose my temper
Battering all the dikes and pounding every beach
Beating at their doors in angry desperation
Hoping against hope there will be someone I can reach
Hoping against hope that just a few of them will hear
And understand the reasons for my anger and my fear
But no one hears and no one cares – they go on as before
And soon I will not fight this losing battle anymore
That’s what the sea said – and she was no longer trying
To hide from me that she was slowly dying

The sea was still awhile and I asked if there was anything I could do
She thought about it, for a moment, then she said:
When you return again please take some photographs of me
So you can show your children’s children what I used to be
That’s hat the sea said and she was no longer trying
Just slowly and inevitably dying
And when the sea, the sea’s no longer trying
What that means is that the world is slowly dying