Thirst by Claude McKay
My spirit wails for water, water now!
My tongue is aching dry, my throat is hot
For water, fresh rain shaken from a bought,
Or dawn dews heavy in some leafy spot.
My hungry body's burning for a swin
In sunlit water where the air is cool,
As in Trout Valley where upon a limb
The golden finch sings sweetly to the pool.
Oh water, water, when the night is done,
When day steals gray-white through the windowpane,
Clear silver water when I wake, alone,
All important of parts, of fevered brain;
Pure water from a forest fountain first,
To wash me, cleanse me, and to quench my thirst.
Thirst is an interesting word because I feel that we all thirst for something. I'm thinking of thirst as a verb and not a noun. The people of Flint are not only thirsting for clean water, they are thirsting for recognition of a problem. Bottled water is only a bandaid on a problem caused by ill will and greed. As some of my students have narrowed their research topics, many of the groups who are researching water crisis, indeed chose Flint. Others found other places such as California and Rio de Janeiro with their own water crises. My guess is these are also based on greed and ill will.
There is also the thirst for knowledge. I feel blessed to have listened to the young man speak about Africa and the problem in southeast Africa on Thursday. The class on Islam didn't necessarily give me new knowledge, but it did give me a thirst to connect with more people, especially "the other." My thirst for knowledge helps me to try to keep current and continually read to improve myself as a human.
My gratitude list...
1) less than adequate weather yesterday allowed me to complete some/most grading
2) another class on Islam
3) beer... yep, beer!
Let's add that today is the last day of February!
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