This is Bird Note.

Mustafa Santiago Ali has been an environmental activist and policymaker for nearly three decades.

The work has taught him that people can drive change with art and storytelling,

which inspired him to write this poem called The Birds Been Praying for Us.

They rise before we do, not just early but holy.

Wings draped in dawn light, they pull songs from the silence like prophets pulling dreams from dust.

A cardinal ain't just read for beauty.

She bleeds purpose into every sky she touches.

They tend the garden we forgot. Scattering seeds we too busy to see, pollinating prayers we too proud to speak.

Their flight is scripture. If we just read the air, a lesson in letting go, and rising anyway,

entrusting the wind to catch what's real. And when they're a lesson in letting go, and rising anyway,

entrusting the wind to catch what's real.

And when they sing, baby, that ain't just music, it's medicine.

A sound bath for the soul.

Reminding us even broken things can build nests and birth miracles.

I was thinking about birds and how they are nature's messengers. They do all these amazing things and they also mirror the health of the planet.

And if we remember that interconnectedness, we'll do things differently.

I still believe that we will get there one day.

Hear more from Mustafa about art and environmental activism when you listen to Season 7 of Bring Birds Back,

available in your favorite podcast app.

For Bird Note, I'm Joni's Franklin.