"No Water"

“No Water”

Beware our fishermen. Where’s the water, you ask?
There is no water.
They look for you even now;
If they find you,
they will drag you with their iron nets and abandon you in a
Wilderness hell

So from now on let them hit you.
Come home beaten and bruised.
Sticks and stones can indeed break bones,
But words often do worse.

They can stifle,
Destroy,
And Mutilate,
All of the Beautiful, Hopeful, things inside of us.

I remember our journey and the woman we met.
Despite her fatigue,
She pressed on and on, and soon her limp became a crawl.
Leaving only her bloody, red flesh, mixed with brownish sand and dirt.

Look back, too
Some have survived many dangers.
Famines, diseases, wars,
Despair.
And the advice of mothers does not always ward off evil.

So from now on let them hit you.
Come home beaten and bruised.
You see, I am not asking you to do something that
I would not do myself.