We worship the moon here;
we sing her songs.
She charms us,
she heals us.
There they bow deep to the sun.
Here we plant our dreams
and harvest visions.
There they plant periods,
and harvest silence.
Here we intuit.
There they know.
Here we weave stories out of dreams and grief.
There they weave cities of blood and sand.
Here the tide ebbs
and rises and when it rises
the barnacles open and wave little ferns.
There the coral reefs are dying;
the bottle with their message
never reaches shore.
Here we call out names
in celebration of the family of life.
Here a name holds power.
There a name is lost and found,
cemented to a building
printed on the sky.
Here a fish leaps and the river sings.
There a river
is a million drinks of water,
a million sad stories of once upon a time.
Here the land is alive,
and the wind
and the stones are alive.
There the land is thirsty
and confused.
The wind is hungry,
the stones, asleep.
If you disturb them
they will begin to whisper
to the minerals in your bones
and they will gently ask you to return
the diamonds in your necklace.
—Gary Lindorff