The River Knows

[irawhite]

Across Mother Earth she flows-
Sometimes silent, strong and still
Sometimes with her roar the air is filled.
Fed by her many tributaries,
Her veins and arteries nurture life
And hastily carries away the excess
To feed the hungry in an ocean bay.
What’s that you say?
Surely you can’t be serious.
Your words can only come
From one who is delirious.
The river flows deep and wide
Between two rocky, dirt caked thighs
And each spring her muddy waters
Flow over those banks
Replenishing the land on both sides.
She carries nutrients and poison
With no distinction between.
This chance we cannot take.
There is no infallibility
In your technology or your machines.
Poison the river and it travels wide
To kill our Mother, our life.
These projects we must forsake-
Do not poison the river
With your black snakes.
When you poison the water
Nothing substantial will be gained.
Do not poison the river-
Water is life.
The river knows your name.