What the river says, that is what I say. -- William Stafford Churning currents and the swift streams topple over the logic of volume and gravity-- a stream moves down a slight downhill then rushes from tributary to tributary then on to an inland sea or finally, ocean A conversation in rills and basins, a river sings with a slow and patient voice of glaciers civilizations have gathered on the riverbanks to bathe, to wave farewell, to lift buckets from streams, to transport heavy logs We lift our cupped hands of icy winter flow and listen closely for a harmony to our days waiting for a melody we recognize by dialect an ancient verse and voice of The People Say, "river" and we feel it in our veins Then in whispers or the sound of tiny bells from a woodland brook, a brave meander through white pines and maidenhair ferns, a rowing song to give a cadence and meter to a birchbark vessel; say "river" And then hear a single voice, fearless, strong the relentless voice of the Wolf calling us home.
Dee Sweet (Anishinaabe, White Earth) is First Nations Organizer for Wisconsin Conservation Voices. She is also Wisconsin’s second Poet Laureate, appointed by Governor Jim Doyle in 2004-08.
