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Water poem
by Manuel González

When water falls from the sky
A fool thirsts
Parched for the knowledge
That collects in the atmosphere
Light and billowy
Then dark and foreboding
Before the soil begins to taste each drop
With throats dry
Some cry out for the sweet relief
To quench their parched souls
That were lost in the desert
For forty years
A golden calf
And ten commandments
But there was a time
When they could part the sea!
With walls of water they found freedom
Freedom that collects into pools and streams
Cleaning our dreams
And memories of wet kisses
Tear-filled lonely nights
And the sweat-soaked shirt
That smells of hard work
And worry-filled nights
When the rain fell
Like a symphony of memories
Flooding my mind like arroyos after the monsoon
Or the deadly ditches where
La Llorona looked for her children
Your children
Our children drink from plastic bottles
Because we don’t trust the tap
Or we don’t like the taste

And now it's time to fight
For seven generations
protecting our water
battling the black snake
we can't drink oil
torn contracts
empty promises
broken treaties
but still we persist
And resist
Together
Keeping our water free and flowing
knowing that our hands and hearts
are our weapons
And our voices the ammunition

Water of Life
oil of death
blood of our people
Sweat
Spit
Raindrop
River
for seven generations
we protect
Preserve
persevere
and thirst
I'm thirsty
I thirst



This poem is dedicated to the water protectors at Standing Rock. The people
who fight for the water all our grandchildren will drink. Regardless of where
you’re from or your politics we all get thirsty.

 


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