tending to the tide

sometimes it's nice to feel small
because it reminds you that
you’re part of something bigger
more encompassing than individualism
collaborative, a network, a system
a community older than time itself
you are branch root beneath every footstep
the veins in tree canopies mimic
those in your body, our body
your blood is the soil, the story
the iron, the land they
wanna take so much of
for false notions of power
colonial fantasy
going against the very nature of life
brilliant and miraculous as she stands
but we remember
softly and deeply

for every tear that drops in the ocean
there grows a swell for the new dawn
resistance looks like many things
passing on intergenerational knowledge
letting the bubs know their inheritance
and responsibility
seeing every single part of Country
as integral, in its minuteness
or vastness
knowing the fight for freedom
is inseparable for human and land alike

so we remember
we are on Country everywhere we stand
beneath the asphalt we march
she holds us so graciously
and every footstep that walks
for justice sends cracks
through empire’s foundation

so we remember
that together we are a force
of mighty love
of carrying spark for
flames extinguished
and our voices were meant
to be heard together
we are part of something
large and integral
there was always us
there will always be us
and there will always be love