Neglect

Oil glistens
contaminates
drinking water
250 evacuated

25 years of
boil-water advisory
an elder recites
and now this

We’re not animals,
adolescents rally
but ears turn away
government wheels rust

Neskantaga First Nation
want to go home
to live with dignity
know their human rights

Do they know
a .05% increase
in corporate taxes
would suffice

For the 73%
of First Nations
also lacking
this basic need

Acknowledge
prioritize
address
It’s all they ask.

(Written for Reena’s Exploration Challenge #168. Image and information sourced from :
ctvnews.ca
and Government of Canada: https://canadians.org/fn-water)

Published by

VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

25 thoughts on “Neglect”

  1. Pingback: Reena’s Exploration Challenge #169 – Reena Saxena

    1. There are – all violations of human rights. When I started, I want to write about the universal situation, but the research facts and stories overwhelmed me, so I focused on a single story hoping that would illuminate the issue more.

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