I believe

in existing as waste-free as I possibly can.

I believe in the immense symbolic power of carrying a travel mug,

and riding bicycles.

In small book stores.

Reading aloud to children

and doing all the voices.

Unseen acts of integrity.

Light rail.

Dark skies.

The leadership of the Dalai Lama,

the poetry of Maya Angelou.

The innate human ability to live in tune with nature.

The dignity of the whale.

The patience of the tortoise.

Releasing the dominance

to embrace the song, 

while conversing with scrub jays 

in their bold, brass, mellifluous tongue.