Feeling Rios' Sacto/SJ Flood Pulse

Redwood lives in all of us
We live their breath, eat their dust..

Carbon cycles all of us
from dust to dust..

Once these valleys were two seas
earlier lush redwood trees..

Before Sierras lifted high,
ocean rain could cross Nevada sky..

Crumbling sediment raised and fell,
valley soil full, plants grow well..

Wintun lived and fished along
Rio Sacto flowed fast and strong..

Salmon swimming rush along,
your pathway blocked for far too long..

Lassen pillow lava beds,
Modoc flows we rest our heads..

Rabbits bounce on plants they feed,
desert life depends on seed..

Energy transferred one day,
for bouncy wolf cubs romp and play..

Shasta springs snow crisp and cold,
priceless water weighed in gold..

Corporate logic a foolish thing,
how can non-humans own a spring?

Salmon, birds, plants and deer,
all hold this water near and dear..

If people get thirsty down on the farm,
a well stays cool with pumping arm..

Springtime flood pulse raise water table,
oxbow lakes are fertile cradle..

No leaching toxins into well water,
fresh and clean by doctor's order..

Ground should filter everything,
though carcinogins to water cling..

Fertilizer petrochemical pesticides,
slowly kill like homocide..

Leftover from chemwar helter skeltah,
spray drift robs life, no place for shelter..

Mountain minerals dissolve en route to delta,
fresh soil turns green, don't need a smelter..

Permaculture farms grow far and wide,
hempseed acorn stew, greens on the side..

No war for Iraqi oil genocide,
petroleum free organic bike ride..

Cycling 2 town 4 farmer's market,
we thank el Sol 4 plenty harvest..

Y Madre Tierra with lots of love,
soils sprout from rain above..

Nighttime echoes shout "Resist!",
clouds disperse til morning mist..

La Luna shines bright for all of us,
vision journey birth to dust..

No step forward, no step back,
a circle's path winding spiral track..