no water

when your son
was little, he ran to you
with fear
and cried out dad, dad,
we have no water.
there's no water.
you imagined a burst pipe,
the ceiling fallen
down from the frozen
ground outside,
you tried the kitchen
then the bathroom,
water, both hot and cold
poured out.
he stood beside you,
tears in his eyes,
then he held up
an empty plastic bottle
shaking it frantically
in front of you
and saying,
we have no water
to drink. mom drank
the last bottle, what
are we going to do?