Subhaga Crystal Bacon
Recycling
For every 100 nautical miles flown, the F-35A emits as much carbon dioxide as the average UK petrol car
does in a year. (Durham University, UK)
They didn’t ask me to, but I brought a bag—
paper—to carry home the cans and bottles,
the plastic cracker trays, of our stay.
While every day, squadrons of Naval jets
spew exhaust and noise. On the beach
some look up in awe, snap pictures.
The town’s entryway is marked by two
on stands like a boy’s model toy.
A sign says Homes for Heroes.
I mean no disrespect but wonder
about the heroics of their peacetime
flights. Or am I ignorant of the danger
they meet—and mete—to distant wars?
I’m down here beneath their wings,
their loud bravado, worried
about the gas we burn in our RV,
leaving behind a separate car.
I’m witnessing this presage of doom
the effect of their military boom.
“I love visiting Whidbey Island on the Puget Sound for its marvelous beachfront and woodland walks. But we have to share it with the Navy, whose fighter jets fly test runs throughout the day. I’d read that the US military has the largest carbon footprint in the world, and it made my efforts at recycling seem too little, too late.” —Subhaga Crystal Bacon
Subhaga Crystal Bacon (they/them) is the author of five collections of poetry including A Brief History of My Sex Life, forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Books in January of 2026, and Transitory (2023), from BOA Editions, a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Poetry in 2024. They are a teaching artist in schools and libraries as well as working with private students individually and in groups. A Queer elder, they live in rural north central Washington on unceded Methow land.