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Water on the Street

George Eastman
was dumping water
from his outdoor hot tub one day
and the water
was running
down the center
of the street.

Now, from a distance,
it looked like
George Eastman
may have been
watering his lawn;

but people were only allowed
to water their lawns
on certain days of the week.

So when I saw the water
and then I saw
George Eastman,
I said, “Hey, you know -”
pointing to the water

and
George Eastman
interrupted and said,
“I know what you’re thinking, but
I’m not watering my lawn. I’m
dumping out the water
from my hot tub,
and I’m dumping it into the street
because I don’t want the chemicals
to hurt my lawn.”

Well, I didn’t even mention the
sewer grate behind his house
he could have dumped the water into.
I just said,
“Well, if it will hurt your grass,
what will it do to the asphalt on my
street?”

And
George Eastman
started hemming and hawing
as I drove away.


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Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers
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