I wanna hitch my wagon
To the sun. It’s not
Absolutely inexhaustible, but for
My lifespan and
The life of my people,
It’s good enough.
Choking on heat?
Burning in fires?
Parching with thirst?
My friend, step this way:
Soil organic matter
Is the answer
To your fever dreams
Of despair, your
Pleas for help,
That some people
Would have you believe
Are inherently
Unanswerable.
Fiddlesticks to those naysayers!
A pox on all our houses
If we give up,
Roll over,
Stop dead in our tracks.
Today I saw a western bluebird
Near a musk sage
In this drying land;
Last week, a native bumblebee,
And a swallowtail butterfly.
Nature is whispering encouragement
Through subtle and open movements
While I carry buckets
Of yesterday’s livestock water
To trees and shrubs
In the cool morning hours,
Before my upper lip
Beads with sweat.
The dogs smile and pant:
What’s the game today?
The sheep jump, four-off-the-floor,
When we enter a fresh paddock.
And now here I am,
Learning how to plan
Carbon farming,
Talk the talk,
Crunch the numbers.