“Give Me Water”
By me
The sirens race past
Red and blue flash across my living room walls,
A movie displayed on the plaster canvas.
Blood flows,
And the police respond.
While there is much to correct,
And someone needs to direct
And account for the actions
Of our men and women in blue,
It’s good that our government provides
Some means of protection.
When they get it right, it will be better to have it
Than not at all.
Blood flows,
And the ambulance responds.
The system is far from perfect,
As I bleed out cash as well as blood,
And sometimes I wonder if surviving is worth it,
When my survival is drowning in a lifetime of debt
That I am told will be transferred to my children,
Their only crime being born to someone
With a rare disease.
It’s good that our government provides
Some means of health care.
When they get it right, it will be better to have it
Than not at all.
Water flows,
And…nobody responds.
The tap is dry
Which is better than when it’s not,
And the brown that flows out
Pumps me full of more lead than the man
Who was taken to the hospital last night.
My tap is dry because even though
The largest supply of freshwater in the world is
Mere feet away,
You sold it to the lowest bidder,
As at least they would give you cents on a gallon
That would otherwise cost you fractions of a penny.
But the taste of that penny,
Blood in your mouth,
Is blood in my veins
That will never be rid
Of the toxins you leached
Of the contracts you breached
So that you could turn and say
“Our health care is the best in the world,”
As I look at a ranking of 37th
And see my children stare back at me,
Their future not even uncertain.
Their fate has been decided.
The lead in their bones
Will bring them an early grave
That they literally cannot afford
Because my debt will be theirs
My burden, given to me
By the square mileage I happen to live on
And the government in control,
Will become theirs.
And you wonder why you’re despised.
Lunch Hour Poetry 