Lead.
Arsenic.
Mercury. Cadmium.
Selenium, chromium, silver.
Non-point source means you can't point the finger. A little bit of rain collides with a little bit of metal, bears a mobile babe. Babe rolls, crawls and grows. Over, under, into. Compounding, expanding exponentially. Metal unable or unwilling to extricate itself from other metals. This is the most common type of water pollution in this (any)city. Non-point source: we know we don't know exactly where it came from.
I can't get away from water or I won't. I haven't seen a lake since I've been in Atlanta. I haven't seen a river. A creek snakes through newly developed lofts behind the train station. I am a frequent visitor. The water is a murky graygreen. If I focus, I can see the sparkle of heavy metals. I conjecture whereabout those poisons are coming from.
Calcium, iron, nitrogen.
Potassium. Sodium.
Hydrogen.
Oxygen.
This is the great paradox.
Our bodies thump a lovely assemblage of elements. Mostly we are two: hydrogen and oxygen. Mostly we are water. We need others: calcium, iron, nitrogen, potassium, sodium. The problem is that we need them in exact amounts. A human being is a delicate balance. Every red blood cell is surrounded by a membrane whose constitution is virtually the same ratio of salt to water as an ocean. Scientists point to this as evidence that we evolved from the sea. An ocean made solid.
I point to this as evidence that we need to pay attention to the water.
The water.
We use nitrates to fertilize our fields. The rain takes the nitrates to our stream and upsets the water's perfect balance. This kills certain wildlife, causing bacteria to reproduce grossly. Our water becomes bloated with nitrogen, potassium, sodium. Salts. When our blood becomes bloated with salt, our heart chokes and explodes. A heart attack. Think of the land as our heart.
It rained tonight. I was inside so I couldn't taste the drops as they thudded from the sky. It is ok; I will cry tonight at the illness of the Earth. I will taste the sickness I have consumed.
I forget about water sometimes. How beautiful and necessary it is for life. This was a touching blog about water. Long live water!
ReplyDeleteI like that you point out that most of the chemicals that can harm us already exist in our bodies, but that it's about striking the proper balance. I'd never given this idea any thought before but it's so true and I love the way you separate hydrogen and oxygen and then point out that we are really made up of the two combined (again in a a very specific order) elements. A very thougt-provoking description.
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