The Final Raindrop by Felicity Powell
The Final Raindrop
A crowd has gathered, everyone on Earth
Stands on the ocean bed,
Staring into the sky.
They are waiting:
It was measured
That here the final raindrop would fall.
They’d drained the Atlantic
Scoop by scoop
Until nothing but sand remained;
They’d melted the icecaps,
Mountains of solid water,
Until nothing but solid remained;
They’d poisoned the rivers
Until a chemical trickle
Was held in high demand;
They said there was never enough water,
But there has always been the same amount.
It is us who has changed.
They are waiting for the final raindrop.
From a waterfall, ten miles high,
Look up, here it comes
A tiny globe teetering on the cloud’s lip
Spilling out, a single tear
To be divided, drank and wept by all.
Not long now.
Mouths open in unison,
Waiting for the final raindrop to fall.
Felicity Powell was highly commended in the Young Adults category of the NCLA’s Water Poetry Competition 2012.
The NCLA Water Poetry Competition was judged by W.N. Herbert and John Burnside. The ceremony was held at Northern Stage on 23rd February 2012.
Photographs of the event can be viewed here.
NCLA Water Poetry Competition website.
A note from Felicity Powell on writing this poem: ‘It amazes me how we continue to take our planet’s natural resources for granted; pouring chemicals into rivers, allowing the icecaps to melt away, while there are those in the world dying of thirst and poverty. So I imagined what life would come to if all the water on earth were to be taken away, and all that was left was a single raindrop falling from the sky. How would we react? Would we do our best to share it equally among ourselves, or fall to fighting and killing to be the only one to taste something clear and pure? ‘