I would like to be a tree
but you would cut me down.
I would like to be a river
but you would build a dam.
I would like to be a bird
but you would poison what I eat.
I would like to be a deer
but you would shoot me for my meat.
I would like to be a fish
but you would catch me in your net.
I would like to be a coyote
but you would want me for my skin.
I would like to be a grizzly bear
but you would kill me because I'm rare.
I would like to be a flower
but you would pick me to take home.
I would like to be what I am.
Is there any hope for that?
I wandered as half a river
My waters going nowhere.
I wandered without a shadow
My body alone in the sun.
I wandered as a rootless tree
The earth not knowing me.
I wandered as a wingless bird
The sky forgetting me.
I was lightning with no thunder.
I was a flower with no rain.
I was a stranger to spring.
And winter was home to me.
At last my summer came.
She was the moon to my setting sun
She was the rain to my hungry earth.
She was spring to my melting snow.
Wherever she went there went my thunder also.
