Aftershock

It’s been a horribly sad week, the news from Haiti following the earthquake. It’s easy to take much for granted in our lives, like shelter and fresh water, and I awoke this morning thinking of Marilyn Singer’s poem “Wells” from her collection How to Cross a Pond: Poems about Water. I can’t find a link to the full poem, and it’s worth reading the full, but here’s an excerpt:

WELLS
Water is too easy here,
grandma says. …

To appreciate water,
you must work for it,
Pump, hoist, and haul. …

Learn to understand
that water is the true treasure
of small villages and great cities.
Only then will you never squander
What is not yours to own.

I heard on the car radio after dropping my daughter that the Red Cross has estimated some 50,000 deaths, with the toll expected to rise. On another station, Rusted Root’s “Send Me on My Way” was playing, and it felt like the right song at that moment, like a postcard of hope through the lift of the music. It opens with the line, “I would like to reach out my hand.” From YouTube:

(Kids may know this song from Danny DeVito’s film adaptation of Matilda.)

With thoughts of those in Haiti and those with friends and family there.

Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Mary Ann at Great Kids Books.