Water
Water is characterized in the poem as a blessing and as a form of currency that rains down over the community. In the beginning, when Dharker evokes water in its absence to highlight how essential it is, she refers to the sound of water as "the voice of a kindly god" (Line 6). Water is thus an active and divine force in the poem. Other words in the poem that are used to describe water are fortune, silver, flow, and blessing. These show that water is both deified and functions as a currency.
The Community
The central image of the poem is a bursting municipal pipe that causes all the surrounding inhabitants in the city to partake in gathering and enjoying the water. These inhabitants are described as a congregation of men, women, and children. It is clear from the beginning descriptions of the poem that this community often struggles from lack of water. Their skin cracks like a pod, and the reader is asked to imagine the scarce sounds of water when there is not enough.
When the pipe bursts, it is the naked children in particular who connect with the water on a different level of enjoyment. They scream in the liquid sun, their highlights polished to perfection. The poem ends with the water (referred to here as "the blessing") singing over the children's small bones. This suggests that play and enjoyment also contribute to the community's survival.
