Sample Poem
Water as Much as Anything
When everything else fails--that is,
humanity--this sparse, spilling, H2O
enlivens the living, the still-living tissues.
A catbird calls from its tree in Nevada,
does not stop searching for mates nor
protection of habitat. Sings: Water! Water!
Come! Sip! That we may continue. Not
words enough, not the small quizzical notes,
but the full-throated rapturous bell-tones. From
the heights of the catbird's perch in the green
aspen these truths fall. Not one human in sight.
Originally published in Moments Before Midnight: Oregon Poets Write for Ecological, Social, Political, and Economic Justice (Bob Hill Publishing, 2018).
When everything else fails--that is,
humanity--this sparse, spilling, H2O
enlivens the living, the still-living tissues.
A catbird calls from its tree in Nevada,
does not stop searching for mates nor
protection of habitat. Sings: Water! Water!
Come! Sip! That we may continue. Not
words enough, not the small quizzical notes,
but the full-throated rapturous bell-tones. From
the heights of the catbird's perch in the green
aspen these truths fall. Not one human in sight.
Originally published in Moments Before Midnight: Oregon Poets Write for Ecological, Social, Political, and Economic Justice (Bob Hill Publishing, 2018).
"For me writing is kind of a way for me to explore why I want things and why I'm afraid of things and why I worry about things. And for me, all of those things represent a kind of hunger that comes with being raised in a place like this."--Natalie Diaz (1978- )