Water in Africa

Not in a rush like a river,
but in dribbles from a protruding pipe,
orange
liquid
drips.

Invisible flatworms
pulse in puddles,
and in cross-hatched rice fields
mosquitoes
and malaria
grow.

Silent children fill bottles-
drop
by
drop.
This is what they do
each day.

I wear clothes labeled for
the clear Columbia,
but
in my pocket are faces
from a valley of clay.