We cannot live without it

It brings bottled hope to the days of

Sunburns and sweat

It is our food, bodies, miracles, and love

Listen closer

Can you hear the water flowing in the pipes?

Can you hear the tides crashing on the shore?

Can you hear the clouds falling to the ground?

Or the splashes licking on your neighbor’s pool?

Perhaps you cannot hear it talking to you

You may not listen unless the water makes it into your wine

You may only hear the whispers from the jaws of the contaminator

Or the cries conveniently commercialized from the thirsty

I suggest a glass of drinking water

As you sip, feel it becoming a part of the body

Listen as the water survives you

While it also slowly kills