A metaphor for greed

This photo from New Delhi, India was taken just a few months ago & isn’t a metaphor but it sure as hell can be seen as one today on World Water Day 2012. Two young men--presumably homeless--bathe on a water pipe above what is described as a sewage drain but sure looks like a river to me. Countries across the globe have allowed rivers to become floating waste dumps, filled with garbage, emitting clouds of toxic fumes, & stinking like cesspools. The mighty Mississippi River, where I grew up, starts as a clean trickle in northern Minnesota & 100-miles south turns to rancid green & greasy waters you couldn’t put your toe in without pulling back a stump. Time to cut the poetics on this day & get down to business demanding our governments develop & implement programs for cleaning up the messes made by corporations so greedy they’re indifferent to human & environmental welfare. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/AP)