Obscured Reflection
Newtown, CT
2021, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
I stare into the water, my reflection murky and obscured;
as through spectacles, I see the spectacle of others’ vision of my world.
Till it nearly overflows, I fill the 5-gallon jerrycan;
Embark again, every step sensing a ferocious animal or a dangerous man.
As I trek, the water pulls me down, tying me so I cannot escape;
my life attached to a necessity, this journey each day I take.
In the heat of Africa, I shiver as the chalk flies across the board;
hammer taps my head each second, my stomach knotted as if squeezed by an iron cord.
Each trek and each day passes by slower than the previous,
until a different day, when even long-ago students gather with us.
We stare on as one, witnessing the phenomenon we dreamed of,
the drilling for water so we can pump it from above.
Each person in the endless circle dances, kicking dirt up into the air,
shouting and chanting for the privilege of clean water that is now
theirs.
Like Kamkwamba’s windmill and Tolage’s petition, now we can all learn
to affect the future we were granted… liberated from our concern.
Reflection
Reflection
My creative process involved a long period of research and reflection on water insecurity. I was inspired by the youth activists in movements towards water justice, such as Jasilyn Charger, Eva Tolage, and William Kamkwamba. The reflective juxtaposition of my relationship with water as compared with those from developing nations drives me to have my voice heard to raise awareness and bring change. I want those who hear my poem to realize how water insecurity affects young people, especially young girls. My message is that to bring about change, we must be the change.