standing
silent witness
like this tree
to the endless rape
of our sky
our lands and seas
but
I won’t stay silent
I will speak out
I will cry out over the scream of the bulldozer
over the howl of the chain saw
over the deafening silence of the impotent law
I will call out to the end of my days
I will cry out against all the damage done
all the poison spilt
all the forests fallen
all the life
gone
gone and never considered
never revisited
never saved
I will speak out all the days of my life
and some day in the silence of a deep wood
I will sleep in the heart of things green and flourishing
at peace

6/28/04