The birds will save us
Not gulls saving the pioneers save us
The other salvation
The birds will save us
A direction known
A path to follow
Show up
Keep together
Return to the reliable
Gather when necessary
Community
A calling to survive
To reproduce
Return again and again
Pay attention
Learn from them
Marvel at their wildness
Hold them in your heart
Keep them in your dreams
Stand with them when the time comes
The birds will save us

This verse is part 15 of the collective praise poem irreplaceable.

~

I grieve each water molecule
excited by the physics of heat
until it lets loose its grasp
relinquished liquid to gas
molecule by molecule
drop by drop
inch by inch
the Lake retreats
shrinks onto itself
can we say without a trace?
nay
left behind
the bathtub ring of what was before
debris row after row after row
foam
brine fly cases
feathers
organic debris
each a mark of its own
microbialites revealed for the first time
minerals lurking beneath
from depth to new position as Lake bed exposes
I grieve each water molecule set free
with no promise of return
or promised yet no longer a path of least resistance

~

we hope
we pray
we wait
we gather

we watch
we speak
we share
we gather

we witness
we revere
we praise
we gather

she is mother
she is sister
she is kin
she is resilient
we praise
we gather