Our water pump broke at the cabin
so we were without water
and I complained at first
having to go to our neighbours
to fill a pot with water
and our blender too
boiling water for dishes
and washing our faces
and then I remember
the women I met in India
some pregnant
some who should have been in school
walking half an hour each way
sometimes more than once
to fill the jugs they carried on their heads.
I remember how they told me
they hoped the water was clean
they hoped there would be enough
they hoped they wouldn’t be raped
along the way.
As we drank our clean water
that night around our safe table
I told my children
about these women
and they did what
beating hearts should do
they cracked open
and it took a long time
to convince them
that if we drank ours
it wouldn’t leave
those women
thirsty.
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