Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WATER!, by STEWART VAN DER VEER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WATER!, by                    
First Line: Standing at dawn on blue mountain, beside the old spring
Last Line: "worship the great god water till your blood, bones and sinews are dust."
Subject(s): Thirst; Water


Standing at dawn on Blue Mountain, beside the old spring again,
My mind goes back to the desert where cacti and hot winds reign:

Dead lizards in stagnant water,
White bellies bared to the sun,
Dead in the stinking water,
Sand! hot as a belching gun.

Gurgling on pearly pebbles in a setting of moss and stone,
Cool in the midst of summer, like ice when the northers moan.
There's a thrush sitting high in a cedar, his brown throat trembling in song --
Rude pictures creep across my mind in an ever-increasing throng:

Night on the gray tramp steamer,
The drink was all milky and rank
Tough on the sea in the tropics,
With water low in the tank.
Thick water it was and tepid,
One swallow, but not any more,
Low, plumb low on the water,
Two hundred miles from the shore.

Sparkling, fresh from the mountain, clear as a fairy's tear,
As certain as each day's twilight, as sure as the marching year.
Spout Spring waters the valley, freshens the old mill pond,
Crashes over the mossy dam, then on to the lake beyond.

Think of that day in the trenches
When Joe caught a shrapnel burst,
Poor Joe with red insides a-spilling,
Just moaning and cursing with thirst.
And the sun like the devil's skillet,
Big Joe 'neath a blanket spread;
The last word he spoke was "water,"
As he joined the battalions of dead.

It's peaceful at dawn in the mountains with Spout Spring here at my feet,
Water here by the carload -- water so cool and so sweet.
Now I turn my back on the friendly spring, and my dog and I pass on,
And I think of the millions who yet will drink when my dog and I have gone.
Millions have come and millions have gone, and the law has been: "You must
Worship the Great God Water till your blood, bones and sinews are dust."





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