Issue 10
Pure
Patricia Wellingham-Jones
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Water
In the fancy restaurant
with the three-sided view of ocean
she orders bubbling water
in a small bottle-four dollars a pop.
Guaranteed to be pure.
At home she drinks
from a filter screwed to the faucet
and checked once a month
by a traveling service.
Guaranteed to be pure.
In China where you're told
to beware of anything
that isn't prepackaged or boiled
she drank from the room's thermos.
Guaranteed to be pure-though
half of us got the runs.
At my house she drinks well water,
it hasn't been tested
for over five years. So far
nobody's been sick, but I don't
guarantee it to be pure.
Our cats, well, that's something else.
They drink out of toilet bowls,
the bird bath in the yard, tiptoe
on rocks to swill the creek. Definitely not
guaranteed to be pure
but if I had to, I'd drink there, too.
~Patricia Wellingham-Jones
Patricia Wellingham-Jones has been widely published in journals, newspapers, anthologies, and on-line magazines. Her most recent books are Labyrinth and the forthcoming Apple Blossoms at Eye Level. E-mail.
© 2002 by Patricia Wellingham-Jones. All Rights Reserved.
© Copyright 2002 by Cayuse Press. All Rights Reserved.
This page updated December 23, 2002.