Horsham’s largest water feature, the ‘Rising Universe’, or ‘Shelley Fountain’, was turned off in 2006 as a water-saving gesture. Locals and traders alike protested to the local paper, which invited comments and suggestions from readers.
The Universe has Risen up its pole, towards the sky,
A puzzle to the folk who pass below;
For that is where it’s staying while the weather is so dry,
Unless we find a source of H2O.
I have a cunning plan to get poor Shelley’s Fountain going,
It’s simple and effective, nothing grand,
A way to garner water that would otherwise be flowing
To waste down Horsham’s drains. Here’s what I’ve planned:
In times like these, as citizens, I feel we really oughta
Stop wasting so much wet stuff, it must stop;
So bring in all your buckets full of soapy used bathwater,
And fill up Shelley’s cistern to the top.
Then children can again immerse themselves beneath its flow,
Emerging strangely cleaner from their frolics.
The Universe will Rise again, and you and I will know
We’ve contributed to its new hydraulics.