To walk into the wild, to be there for you who walk into the wild,

To share the way first light brushes a cold burn against blue snows,

To share the woods, the tang of air in the lungs, the drip of rain

down oaks and leopard lilies, to share the way first light falls on wolf,

on fisher, when their fur is damp. To share moments, the extraordinary

within the ordinary, the sounds of our voices in unison, the sounds

of voices rising for environmental justice, rising above  top-down claims.

To serve as a growing gathering for the health, voices against fracking

and false renewable energy, voices against deforestation disguised

as restoration. To settle accounts, to mitigate for the losses

we have faced, to take the essential steps together, to be true,

to be true, to explore all possibilities within the unfurling of seedlings,

to be true to the Tlingit’s Great Ice Chief who learned with age,

to serve as voices for civil rights and human rights, for natural wonders,

and seasonal cycles, for environmental movements and small farm

movements. To walk beside, not ahead or behind, to speak and allow                  

for others to speak. To be there for you who are walking into the wild.