Preservation

 

Is this their heartbeat or ours?

 

 

Is a river

still a lifesource

if the life there

is disregarded?

 

The quality of

its content only important

if the stream ends at

a white mouth?

 

And preservation,

only necessary,

if it ends up in a museum?

 

Maybe water isn’t an issue

if yours is clean

just how a city doesn’t exist

if you don’t live there

and all lives only matter

when yours isn’t the topic

of conversation

.

 

 

have you ever held your breath

through passing smoke

only to find that three years have gone by

and the air has yet to clear

?

 

To have to choose

between dehydration or

disease

says more about a country

than an anthem or

a flag

ever could

 

the lengths

others have taken

to keep history alive

are almost as remarkable

as our attempts to forget it