Watery Lottery Poem by Tom Higgins

Watery Lottery



Water, as most of you will know,
has the chemical formula H2O.
Now this essential liquid is, as well,
in its natural form, devoid of smell,
and also in its pure state,
it's clear and clean and really great,
for keeping living things alive,
as without it nothing can survive.
Yes it really is such magic stuff,
because without it things are really tough,
and it often makes me stop and think.
each time I pour myself a drink.
What would I do if it all dried up?
Turn on the tap, but an empty cup!
Nothing from the pipes emanating,
panic, as I'm not used to waiting.
This is not how it is for me,
I live where rain falls frequently,
and I can drink, shower and bathe too,
as often as I'm wanting to.
But in other parts it rains only rarely,
and people there, well they can barely,
find enough water for their needs,
to drink, to wash, to nurture seeds.
For them life is infinitely harder,
they've learned to live with an empty larder,
and simple hygiene is so hard to achieve,
when the detritus of living, they have to leave,
lying, rotting, stinking on the surface all around,
polluting any water source in the ground.
Because of the extreme poverty of these 'others',
on my TV screen I have seen the faces of the mothers,
whose children died because there has never been
access to water which is drinkable and clean.
Yes, something that we take for granted,
because we were born, where we were planted!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
lost soul 04 April 2012

very insightful observations on the most basic necessity most of us take for granted nicely done

1 0 Reply
Heather Wilson 04 April 2012

A great poem, so well written, sad but true, I`m sure most of us do take water for granted where rain is plentiful.

2 0 Reply
Martin O'Neill 04 April 2012

This is so true, Tom. I watched and had to fight the tears as John Bishop, comedian reported from another forlorn corner of the world where an eleven year old girl said she feared for her life because of the water she and her family had to drink. You could see John fighting the tears. How does our world tolerate such inequities?

2 0 Reply
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