Thursday, May 31, 2018

WATER/Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads

WATER 

Water was not always a concern
It seems to be everywhere
We went to the gulf to play
Splash in the waves
Float on the river 
In inner tubes

As you approached
Cool to the toes
The grass frosted wet
Calm and peaceful
Splash and laughter

Play on the pier all day
Fish and swim
Jump and splash
There was no concern
For the water
And of course no thought
There would ever be a shortage

Wars over water
Clean fresh water
But there were some who knew
In the west
Where the water
Didn’t run free
And there never really was enough

We see now
We see into the future
Our lives have been 
Lives of waste 
Dumping our waste
Into someone else’s water
Spoiling what was drinkable

May 1. 2018


2 comments:

Sherry Blue Sky said...

A topic of much concern to me, Annell, and you have written it well. My mother's generation believed resources were infinite. It didnt take long for us to find out the opposite. Not long for us to exhaust earth's resources either. Well said, my friend. I am reminded of some Mayan women who travelled here to the Coast to tell us about how they were trying to reforest their desert. In cracked dry earth they placed tender seedlings and carried water to them CAN BY CAN to help them grow. Their proudest village building, wreathed in flowers and photographed, was a community outhouse. They were driven here past lakes and rushing rivers, water everywhere, visited peoples' over-large houses, and when a child asked if they had a question for us. One woman said yes, they wondered why north americans complained so much. I felt such shame.

Kerry O'Connor said...

The final stanza makes a very valid commentary about water wisdom.. or lack thereof.

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