Thermos Flasks

Brightly colored

Green and red plastic

Thermos flasks

Bobbing by ones and twos

And passing all day long

Beneath the waving trees

I see them bouncing up and down

Along the many pathways

Hot water for hot days and cold

Hot water for tea leaves and laundry

Once in a while, a broken thermos bottle

Lies shattered in a thousand silver splinters

Upon the ground

The energy spent in heating the water and transporting it everywhere

Is not an inconsiderable cost in the calculations of the People's development