Please
restrict yourself to two minute, stop-start showers.
Collect your bath and basin water
and use it for flushing.
Only flush when you really need to.
Wash hands less frequently – use sanitizer instead.
Don’t leave the tap running while you brush your teeth.

Evenings, in the townships,
children’s feet skip in the street
weaving through the queues forming
outside the communal taps.

In the hotels,
all the bathtub plugs have been taken out.
The taps in restaurant bathrooms are blocked.

At the GrandWest Arena,
where a troupe of world-renowned illusionists
are putting up a show,
audiences are disappointed that they will not get to see
maestro escape artist Krendl
due to the logistics of his performance.

Summer’s feet drag,
kicking up long plumes of dust.
The disas are in bloom;
pretty redheads dot the side of the Mountain.
All the lawns are blondes.

All the cars in Cape Town are dirty.