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