All My Relations
I am the fading hemlock,
flayed orange by woolly adelgid.
I am the soft creek,
sneaking past the mossy rock.
I am the bright bubble,
bouncing along the surface.
I am the cobalt sky,
reflected in the caught pool.
I am the broken giant,
cut short by careless campers.
I am the hearty moss,
clinging to decay.
I am the worn path,
kept soft by loving soles.
I am the cool winter breeze,
rattling leaves and coaxing trees to moan.
I am the nervous wren,
flitting across the brushy floor.
I am the hawk,
calling, arcing high above.
I am the woodpecker,
wheezing as I glide between trees.
Too, I am the din of airplane,
laying trails across the sky.
I am the coal ash,
dumped foul into the river.
I am the oil spill,
slicking the ocean and its floor.
I am the choking albatross,
full with unnecessary plastic objects.
I am the starving child,
in too many places to count.
I am the tired mother,
running circles around the sun.
I am the greedy banker,
collecting, collecting, collecting.
I am the addicted teenager,
searching for what cannot be found.
I am the abandoned slums,
left to nature to transform.
I am the contaminated water,
where creatures adapt or die.
I am the one whose greed
has disrupted the balance of nature.
I am the one who has come to make it right.
words and images ©Honor Woodard 2014