The Wind, The Water, The Flame, by Joanne Blossom

The Wind, The Water, The Flame

When they questioned their supreme deities,

The builders, lawmakers, valiant fighters

Did not believe them.

 

They ignored them, would not believe, even laughed

At the answers.

Others protested,

You can’t hunt here, said the rancher to the wolves.

You can’t eat here, complained the farmer to the crow.

And then next,

You dare not send gust here, they said to the gales.

You must not come here, they wailed to the floods.

You cannot burn here, they begged of the flames.

 

Had they only listened, believed, learned.

The animals know, the plants know, the forests know.

It will blow, it will flood, it will burn.

Do the humans know? — That’s a different story.

 

-Joanne Blossom