Why am I clearing reeds
From an old, dry reservoir?
Breaking my back on a task
So big there is no horizon
Where the rhizomes twist and knot themselves
Against my puny force
And even the hands of all my friends
Will never make light work

Because I believe
One day cool waters will return
And birds I’ll never see will swim
And breed, and dragonflies
Will chase across the surface in the sun
The last few autumn swallows
Will catch their parting meal
And winter air will fill with piping calls
Of wigeon and the rush of wings

The task will never cease
The reeds themselves will stand
In other places, catch the wind,
The warblers and the sneaking snipe
Raise their velvet rods on high
And spread their woolly seed
And practice domination
In spite of me

But I will work on through
The golden light of afternoon
And piling clouds of change
With friends who fight beside me
In joy at lasting labour
In love of possibility
In hope of one more year of sunlight
Because we believe