We speak of sisters and brothers

Thereby binding our hearts and our lives

To the most sacred things we know

To One human family --

Which sometimes tends to confuse things

When one is referring to, for instance,

Two beautiful young women

Who actually are sisters born and raised together

Like these Oregon river rascals

Who are almost as wild

As the daisies and blackberries

That permeate our lives

Almost as wild as the prolific mistletoe that clings

To all the dark oaks

Almost as wild as the fields of mint

That fills our lungs and hearts with rapture

Almost as wild as the coyotes that sing

In the night from the fields and forests

Almost as wild as the Salmon that run these rivers

As the Eagles and hawks circling high,

As the deer that watch us from the trees,

As the possum, as the otter, as the seal...

To see them at the river so naturally

Is to perceive a harmony of nature

So all-incompassing

It could fill anyone with passion...

With the belief that those eagles are

Our brothers and sisters

And the deer

Are our brothers and sisters

And the whales and dolphins

Are our brothers and sisters

And that we are all one family

Sharing this earth...