The robins taught my people to weave tight baskets.

The wind taught us to secure our nests.

The songbirds taught us to how to sing.

There were reeds down by the river.

Sometimes a worm would bore a hole

And eat its way through all the nodules in the stem,

Then the river breeze had a place to come and play a song.

This is the sound of a hollowed out shoot,

The peaceful sound of the native flute,

That tells of nature's ways and cycles,

And of the places that humans take

When they are allowed to grow.

Listen and know that you are here because of love.

Let your own love take wing.

Let the wind blow through you,

And sing the hopes of the hollowed out shoot

Through you for many years to come.

-jenn