Flying Pools
Flying Pools
We are rich.
We have technology —
can span rivers, bays, scary neighborhoods
with bridges that drift with wind
but hold on to the land with steel teeth
and feet
and are beautiful.
We can transform things —
desert into farmland,
cities into deserts,
civilization to rubble.
We can move rivers —
the Mississippi River wants to flow
into the Achafalaya, but the
Army Corps of Engineers says
no way.
In my home town
people are talking about moving
Barton Springs Pool —
But I think that's short sited,
too permanent.
I think we should
let our swirling green
old springs
fly, get rid of algae
from down stream
be done with silt from
construction on the aquifer —
suction and velocity
should do it —
engineering and politics
to supply the money.
Sieze the moment,
do this when the aquifer
is up.
We'll make a box model
first —
to be sure it works.
We'll do mitigation ponds
in case of spills.
Austin is growing and needs
more pools —
Barton Springs
could swoop from neighborhood
to neighborhood, sharing
the emerald cool
joy
we have come to love.
I think we should
not be old fuddy duddys,
get with the modern tech.
We can do this.
We can
leave the original pool
intact during the construction
phase.
In fact we could
just build a duplicate.
Maybe lots of them —
squadrons of flying pools.
In the sky —
with diamonds, or maybe
emeralds.
We can do this for
future generations.
It's our responsibility
to do this for them —
float some loans,
leverage some big money,
make some
flying pools.
©Susan Bright, 2007
Susan Bright is the author of nineteen books of poetry. She is the editor of Plain View Press which since 1975 has published one-hundred-and-ninety books. Her work as a poet, publisher, activist and educator has taken her all over the United States and abroad. Her most recent book, The Layers of Our Seeing, is a collection of poetry, photographs and essays about peace done in collaboration with photographer Alan Pogue and Middle Eastern journalist, Muna Hamzeh.
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Labels: poetry
posted by SB @ 12:12 AM
2 Comments:
We lost the fight to keep AMD from building the new office park on the re-charge zone. They began construction, ripped the top of a fragile hilltop — then abandoned the project -- undone, exposed caliche leaching into a nearby creek, and into the aquifer. We're swimming in that silt this year.
SB
Viewing the demonstration model was really helpful. Thank you for this post.
Anyone who studied or practices Tai Chi, Chi Qong, Yoga, or has Native American appreciation of the spirit of nature, knows and can feel the energy that swimming in Barton Springs, Deep Edy or any of the spring fed waters ibue. We are actually filled with the energy of the earth and its waters when we are in or near these structures. They nurture our own energies.
If the springs are weakend from pollution, their energy is also harmed.
Companies like AMD should know better. They build equipment to manufacture solar PVs - a sustainable, earth friendly form of energy generation. They hire sustainability consultants, presumably to guide their business practices along safe environmental practices. Having some level of corporate conciousness, they can do better.
TKR
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