Christine Rhein: Letter from Flint to Lansing

 I will fix it.

— Governor Rick Snyder, State of the State 2016

Come and rock our babies,

hold their bottles and their cups.

Stop saying you are sorry.

Our children need to bathe.

Hold their bottles and their cups,

watch their faces while they drink.

Our children need to bathe—

help us heat the bottled water.

Watch their faces while they wait.

Think about their future,

all the heating pots of water,

the miles and miles of pipe.

Think about their future,

money at the heart,

the miles and miles of pipe,

poison in their bones.

Money at the heart.

Stop saying you are sorry.

Poison in their bones.

Come later, rock our babies’ babies.

Copyright 2016 Christine Rhein. This poem was first published in River Styx.