The Usefulness of Advocacy

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

To plant trees is an act of faith, says Robin Wall Kimmerer
of the Potawatomi Nation. 

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow, said Audrey Hepburn
who did not starve to death during occupation. 

Toni Morrison, single mother of two who rose at 4:00 a.m.
each morning to sit at her desk, said: To write is an act of faith. 

But I do these things to still a tremor, not take a risk.
I don’t believe, as I do them. And yet, it’s all true. 

The soil, sapling, and word are alive, evincing their life
in movement, and response. They hope to live. 

The earth and her children will walk alongside us
if we will only begin to walk.

Anna Laura Reeve is a poet living and gardening in East Tennessee. She's working on her first poetry collection.

(c) 2021 Anna Laura Reeve