Impending Water Shortage: Facts & Incantations
by Khadija Anderson
Over 5 billion people could suffer water shortages by 2050
Money washed in clear rain water cannot be stolen
To spill water while carrying it from the spring or brook is an omen of sorrow
Global demand for water has increased six-fold over the past century
Water quality is deteriorating because of runoffs of fertilizer and other chemicals
Washing your hands in water in which eggs have been boiled, is a certain way to get warts
Drought and soil degradation are now the biggest risk of natural disaster
Throw a baby’s bath water under a green tree and the baby will thrive
If two people wash together they will have bad luck unless one of them spits in the water
80% of all wastewater is being discharged without treatment
Climate change will make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier
A drowning person cannot drown until he has gone under the water for the third time
Droughts are the greatest threat from climate change
If it rains while a bride and groom are going to or from church, they will have a life of unhappiness
A river takes one drowned soul as its yearly toll
Wrap yourself in the skin of an animal just killed, lie down beside a waterfall,
and the future will be revealed to you
Water scarcity can lead to civil unrest, mass migration and conflict
If rain falls on a coffin, the soul of the departed has arrived safely
Judge’s comments
The third-place selection, “Impending Water Shortage: Facts & Incantations,” is an inspired scheme of couplets which surprisingly pairs alarming environmental facts with endearing folkloric superstitions.
—Nancy Carol Moody
Poet bio
Khadija Anderson, Muslim, mother, poet, and Anarchist lives in her hometown of Los Angeles. Her poetry has been published in many online and print journals and anthologies. Her first book of poetry, History of Butoh, was published in 2012, and a chapbook, Cul-de-sac: an american childhood is forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. Khadija runs a monthly social justice themed literary series, Poets & Allies for Resistance, in Pasadena, California.