Ocean Poetry Anthology
Witness the Water
project information
cover and title subject to change
84 poems
63 writers
24 countries
7 languages
We are compiling an anthology of ocean poetry from our curations across the last three years of our United Nations World Oceans Day collaboration.
This deeply moving, international collection includes poems that touch on critical themes such as ocean preservation, restoration, cultural significance, indigenous storytelling, science, history and more.
We believe the reach of these poems can go even further in their impact and become memorialized as a physical publication and live as a daily reminder to people about the need to focus on our oceans.
We are looking to raise funding to design, publish, print and distribute the anthology, as well as pay the contributors and production team. We are seeking between $15,000 – $23,000 per our budget below.
Art is a critical medium in fostering greater empathy within climate justice, and ultimately preservation and restoration of the ocean by focusing on the stories of those affected by climate change.
Each year, we received dozens of submissions by writers from around the world, and selected pieces have been showcased on June 8 each year at the United Nations Headquarters, and on UN World Oceans Day and Oceanic Global social media. UN World Oceans Day is the United Nations’ most widely attended public facing event.
We will be publishing 84 poems as part of this anthology.
In October, 2025, we piloted an Ocean Poetry magazine at the Young Marine Researchers Conference in Germany, with a successful take up, validating the demand for such a publication.
Alfaaz has been at the forefront of mobilizing the arts to advance activism for social justice, in particular, for climate related issues. We some examples of artistic activations for ocean justice later in this package
preoject contextThe importance of poetry and art in climate justice“Art engages emotion and expands our capacity to connect with the issue of climate change, which is, after all, a deeply human and emotional issue. We need this connection more than ever.”– Allyza Lustig
Importantly so, conversations about climate change are highly intellectualized. This is critical to know what we need to change and how. However, what is often missing is why we need to change. Climate change affects our world – our people, our animals, our plants and what we rely on as a living species, and effectively advocating for the entire ecosystem can be made possible through artistic storytelling.
A University of Wisconsin–Madison study found that artistic representations of climate data evoked stronger emotional engagement than traditional graphs, while being perceived as equally credible. Art also helped narrow political ideology gaps in how relevant climate change felt to viewers.
Full study here
A recent community climate‑themed installation “FloodLights” found that 34% of 256 participants intended to change behavior relating to climate resilience and flood adaptation, and 25% had already made changes
Full study here
your part in this project and change for our oceansSupporting artists, climate justice (and it’s tax deductible!)
Helping with the climate change movement: The arts are a critical medium in sparking emotion, providing information in a digestible and accessible way to then prompt action. Poetry is often underrepresented in climate justice-related art, and so this project brings the medium to the forefront at a much greater scale.
Supporting the arts community: Alfaaz is committed to supporting our writers and artists not just by showcasing their work, but by paying them. Our budget includes an honorarium for each poem our contributors write as well as a fee for a visual artist to design the book.
We continue to strive to make paying artists an expectation, not an option.
You contribution:
Funds the creation of 84 original poems that will be read aloud at rallies, taught in schools, and shared across social media as a mechanism to inspire and mobilize people to act for our oceans.
Ensures these poems are not just seen, but felt, remembered, and acted upon.
Builds a living archive of climate justice, not as policy, but as poetry that will guide the movement for years to come.
Will be tax-deductible!: as the funds will be processed as 501(c)(3) nonprofit funding.
poems we’ve showcased in our curationsElectric and AI Hunger, Azure Grief
In our race toward digital dominion,
we have forgotten the ancient covenant with the sea—
that endless wellspring of sustenance and aw
now bears witness to our betrayal.
Our silicon dreams consume the earth's breath,
demanding more coal, more oil, more fire
to fuel the algorithms that promise salvation
while the ocean burns with our excess heat.
Toxic blooms spread like digital viruses,
poisoning whales who sing songs older than our code,
while coral cities bleach white as data centers,
their vibrant colors fading from existence
We strip the deep for rare earth metals,
destroying abyssal gardens we've never seen,
trading the ocean's ancient mysteries
for the brief flicker of artificial light.
Andy Rapista, Philippines, 2025
Waters Will Rise
There is a reason that when you exhale with mouth open
The roar of the ocean rushes out.
That when you cup a hand over one ear
The sound of the sea echoes in your palm.
That our tears swell with saltwater
And our blood brims with brine.
We forget we were born from the ocean
That we contain the rip and curl, in and out, tidal flow.
But she sends us a hundred reminders that –
We came from the water and the waters will rise to meet us.
Rosie Hendry, Germany
Mother Water
When I was young
I was held beneath a wave
Mother Water welcomed me
When I went to surface
She asked for more time
I waited, trusting
She reminded me of her power
The demands on her body
As Mother, delineation of Earth
Oil glimmers like rainbows, plaguing
Macrame traps steal, opposition unarmed
Unfamiliar earth, met as degrees heighten
Mother Water welcomed me, held me
She released me and I reached for air
My essence returned to me. Hers?
Kelsey Cohen, United States, 2023
Spirit of the Sea
Wandering Whales,
Star sailers for centuries.
Deep down mysteries.
Flying and fishing,
Salty breeze will centre thee.
Once from the sea.
Travelling turtles,
Connecting our history.
Heal whole heartedly.
Diving Dolphins dream,
Surfing sets the spirit free.
Ancient energy.
Silent Sharky shores,
Our blue planet rarity.
Respect, protect, see.
One Ocean, Our responsibility.
– Koby OB, Nicaragua
Our curations at united nations world oceans dayFor four years, Alfaaz has been invited to the United Nations to curate poetry for World Oceans Day, the UN’s largest event each year, and the basis of this publication. The UN has included poetry as it sees it as a critical medium to communicate the climate crisis and activate our community.
Over the years, we have published 84 poems across 24 countries in 7 languages.
The themes:
2026: Reimagine: Beyond The World We Know
2025: Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us
2024: Awaken New Depths
2023: Planet Ocean: Tides Are Changing
Our curation at the Young Marine researchers Conference, GermanyIn October, 2025, Alfaaz was invited to curate an exhibition at the Young Marine Researchers Conference in Kiel, Germany, a conference hosted by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Meeresforschung (German Society For Marine Research).
This exhibition, featuring visual, audio and augmented reality installations, prompted the audience to connect to those affected by climate change and changes in our oceans at an emotional level in a world where data and statistics dominate and intellectualize social justice information.
Our founder, Karan Rathod, spoke about critical role of the arts as a mechanism to mobilize for social change.
The event prompted critical dialogue of the interdisciplinary collaboration between the sciences and the arts to further advance action for ocean preservation and restoration.
We piloted an Ocean Poetry magazine with a successful take up, validating the demand for such a publication.
the publishing process
budgetThese ranges are estimates, based on industry standards and and are mostly dependent on book design and production decisions.
Unused funding will be used to pay writers, artists and contribute to similar projects.
At Alfaaz, we strive to bring together a community of writers and artists to create an environment of collaboration and creativity.
We are passionate about storytelling and believe in the power of creativity to connect us to one another, aiming to create a safe space for new and experienced writers and artists to be able to express themselves and grow in their craft.
We publish books and individual pieces of writing, curate exhibitions and installations, provide writing development programs and feedback on creative work, and help nonprofit organization to overcome their organizational challenges.
Alfaaz strives to leverage its platform for social justice, with several curations and exhibitions dedicated to migration and climate justice.
About Alfaaz