What "Better" Were We Seeking for Our Children That It Came at the Expense of What Was Free and Abundant?

E148: When the Water is Gone - A July Tradition

“I wonder … if the next generation will know water the same way I did.
The way it runs through the fingers, the way it wrinkles the hands, cools the skin …
I wonder … if my grandchildren will ever throw a penny in a fountain. And hear it splash.”
— Rudy Francisco, “When the Water is Gone”

I’m pulling a TSwift and republishing a previous essay (6-minute read)

• For the 91 new subscribers who will be seeing this for the first time.

• As a “refresher” for the rest of us who have wonderful memories of Water.

A few years ago I slipped on a poetry slick left behind by spoken word artist Rudy Francisco. It started in the most innocuous way:

"In one of my earliest memories, I am eight years old, I have a fistful of afternoon, and I am asking the summer if it will always be this glorious."

To say that this poem turbo-charged my interest in making my difference in the Climate discussion is an understatement.

Every. Single. Metaphor. brought a smile, as memories flooded back from my childhood. And of watching my children create their own popcorn water features by strategically placing the lawn sprinkler under the trampoline, followed by drenching their friends in super soaker chases and water-balloon fights across the neighbourhood.

Every. Single. Metaphor. of the changes that are [inevitably] unfolding were also starkly, uncomfortably presented. I’ve struck out “inevitable” because that is what I am here to challenge.

When the Water is Gone

“I remember taking a deep breath, trying to get as much July into my lungs as humanly possible”

This poem launched me as a climate vocalist in 2019. Guided by that opening line I dedicate the month of July to advocate for climate awareness. It is my July “Right of Passage” — the stand I take each year — in the hope that those of us out enjoying the summer, the beach, the lake, the fishing, and the surf, might think a little beyond September and “wonder if my grandkids will ever throw a penny in a fountain. And hear it splash.”

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When the Water is Gone, Rudy Francisco

When the Water is Gone, Rudy Francisco previously posted on my website as a visual poem that slips and slides its way across the page.

How do I tell you a story that enrolls you in a journey to be taken together?
A journey to save the water, and offer it as the same elixir for our children that we knew as kids?

This is my response to the heart-wrenching poem by spoken word artist Rudy Francisco¹ which has taken up significant real estate in my head since I first heard it.

He paints pictures with words,
walks you through drenched sidewalks
where the laughter and high-pitched screams of kids ping off the walls in the neighbourhood.

Get as much July into my lungs

We are grateful that the summer has arrived
At last!

How many of us have super memories
of lazy, hazy days on a dock or jetty
Or the stick of our clothes to our bodies
as we hasten off the subway and dash home for a cleansing shower?

What does July mean to you?

Super soakers, slip & slides

So many memories of summer come attached with water -
and the need to cool down with the crisp splash of water on a sweltering day

In North America, it’s usually kids in neon suits and board shorts
dripping from top to toe, hydrating on giant popsicles

In another part of the world, it could be a dip in the river
or taking in the cool breeze as you play on the edge of the beach

Or it could be a handkerchief,
soaked in water,
pressed to the back of the neck
catching the edge of a wisp of a breeze
as your private air conditioning

Do you have a favourite childhood water-related memory? What is it? Share it with us:

In one generation

How did we give all this up?
In the space of one generation?
How are we at a point where we cannot guarantee our children
and our children's children
these pleasures and memories of this abundance?

In the span of one generation, we are watching rivers run dry
Dams being built
Droughts across the land
Deluge as the infrequent rain slips off the dry earth
hardened with the heat
like it is some fine ceramic

What 'better' were we seeking for our children
that it came at the expense of what was already free and abundant?

Be careful how you use the water

When you tell the story of your youth, will it include water?

How will you describe it? What will be your words?

Do you think you will ever hold your grandchild by the hand
and run their fingers under a tap?

#MakeTakeTalk

How did this poem affect you? It bullied me into sharing it every year. That one line: “I wonder if the next generation will know water the same way I did … the way it runs through the fingers … the way it wrinkles the hand.” I make it my mission to share this wonderful work of words each year. Does that inspire you to take a different action?

Our homework:

Do you have a poem that has grabbed your soul the way this one has a tug on mine? Please share a link to it, and tell us why it inspires you. Extra points if it is water-related!

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Pairings:

I believe in humanity’s ability to innovate itself toward progress. We need to keep up the conversation on urgency at the same time as offering hope:

• Urgency varietal: In trend-spotting “One is an outlier. Two is a cluster. Three is a trend.” We are now dancing on the edge of a steady 1.5C increase.

• ncas.uk

  

  A post shared by @ncas.uk

• Hope varietal: From a post by climate scientist, Katharine Hayhoe, Author of Saving Us, Chief Scientist for the Nature Conservancy. She is my climate muse as she is on the frontline of the battle. Yet she always finds something positive to look forward to:
  ”Spending time in nature is good for your physical and mental health, plus it also fosters pro-environmental attitudes; so I always try to make that a priority, too!” Follow her on Instagram @katharinehayoe https://www.instagram.com/katharinehayhoe/ LinkedIn and Twitter

• Take a minute to watch Rudy perform his poetry in the YouTube link below. You will thank me.

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I am in my “Re-Entry” phase, enjoying being back at home, back at my desk, and ready to continue all the lovely discussions I started last year and since. DM or email me!

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Karena

Dateline: Oakville, Canada

1. Become a Rudy Francisco fan! Rudy Francisco performing his poem:

https://www.iamrudyfrancisco.com/