"Reflections on the Ice Bucket Challenge of Summer 2014"

Reflections on the Ice Bucket Challenge of Summer 2014 

                                                 Friday, August 22^nd 11:57am

 

Streaming aquatic,
the very essence of life,
striking the pavement,
rushing downhill,

no roots to nourish,

no life to sustain,
mere waste and
dissipation,

sucked dry

by the sun
before reaching
the end of the street.

Yet another video gone

viral, one more group of
individuals dumping buckets
of cold water over their heads,

the baptized pavement

beneath their feet
heated to broiling by the
ever-present California sun.

Awareness is heightened

and many are grateful;
give to the cause,
an answer within reach.

But for those who can do so

without wasting resources,
the power is great,
the joy supreme.

With a tall glass of water

held firmly in my hand,
the life-giving liquid
defying the summer heat,

I shut off my computer

and walk outside, stand
in the shade and gaze
at my impoverished lawn.

Ordered by the city to turn

off my sprinklers, my once-
fertile land is now nothing
more than barren waste. 

Half the water I hold

in my hand is used to
nurture a lone geranium,
while the remainder is

relegated to nourish

a sole tomato plant.
Enduring by design,
amazingly resilient,

both provide

beauty and harvest
from nothing more than
a few ounces of water per day.

Many years from now,

when looking back on
this time, I won’t likely
remember who started

The Challenge,

nor will I recall
the amount
that was raised.

The memory retained

will be the view
from my window,
two more tomatoes

now ripe on the vine,

surviving the drought,
providing my lunch
this warm August day.




           ~~~

First published in Dead Snakes / August 25, 2014

http://deadsnakes.blogspot.com/2014/08/cristine-gruber-two-poems_25.html