Have you ever paused and stopped to think
What life would be like if we didn’t have a drink?
I don’t mean wine or beer, whisky or porter,
But the most precious of all, a drink of cold water.
Do we waste water, do we really think it’s free,
Perhaps because the real cost, we try not to see
Thousands of dead children, not as a result of ethnic slaughter
These kids died for want of a glass of clean drinking water
Not in long wars glorious, with armies victorious as the media would portray
But in stinking slums broken hearted mums watch their babies die, every single day.
The water crisis affects us all, this we know,
Not just in far off countries where the crops won’t grow.
In this matter we each share some blame
Collectively it’s a national, crying shame
If we only took on board that without water life would stop.
None of us would dare to waste a single, precious drop
But it’s always been the same concerning you and I
We never miss the water, till the well runs dry.
Recently in Ireland there was a cry and a hullabaloo.
There was a water shortage with a difference; this time it affected me and you.
Bad management and leaky pipes meant water was in short supply,
The councils cut everyone off; there was a tremendous outcry,
How dare you cut our water off, I roared and ranted and cried
I was about to boil my spuds, now I’ll have to have them fried.
Must I have a shallow bath or even a short shower?
Don’t worry mam he said, we’ll have it on within the hour.
That was a week a go, I haven’t seen hair nor hide,
Our personal hygiene habits are beginning to slide,
For we can’t clean our teeth or even flush the loo
I had to ring and ask, what ever will we do?
He said when water returns we will all have to ration,
It’s easy to save water if we take individual action.
As for our taps, turn them on just so
There’s no gushing water, only the required flow.
When having a shower and under that spray
Remember, that it’s not the time of day
To hum and sing, and ponder the meaning of life
For princes or paupers, from all walks of life
Seem to wash and rinse and then wash again
Oblivious to the deluge flowing down the drain.
A rub and a scrub and a few minutes in and out
Will suffice is my advice as there’s no time to hang about.
Don’t let your ablution mean even further pollution
By using chemicals to scour your baths and showers,
An alternative that is green is the easy solution
There are products that clean, made from plants and flowers
To protect our heritage for all our sons and daughters
Join the revolution against pollution of our streams and waters.
With towns expanding, populations are increasing,
Irelands thirst for water is desperately unceasing
Industry and commerce toil by day and by night
Its demand for more water, is an insatiable appetite
Its not that it’s wrong to try to prosper and thrive
It’s just if we continue to waste water, we’ll never survive.
In this big world we have a shameful distinction,
If everyone polluted like the Irish, we’d face extinction
How we seek success with our industrial drive,
Means we’d need three planets just to stay alive.
When we look at our country with its rivers and lakes,
It’s hard to believe, a little thought is all it takes,
To cherish and to relish this God-given creation
For the sake of the future and the next generation.
The moral of this story before I bid adieu
Is that there are a thousand ways to save water –
But they all begin with YOU