I didn't know I loved the sunset colored poppies
vivid, full of life
waltzing with the wind
like waves in the sea

I didn't know I loved the enchanting hummingbirds
fluttering their tiny wings
twice as fast as the eye can see
like butterflies in springtime

I didn't know I loved the rain
rolling swiftly off slick leaves, onto lush earth
drip dropping from sturdy branches above
like a splashing waterfall

I didn't know I loved McLaren Park
despite mankind's carelessness
surviving for so long
yet never failing to teach me something new

Welcome Back to McLaren Park!
Deborah Lucero

Welcome back to McLaren Park, WALC!
Along with Downtown, we will have a talk
Introducing ourselves, meeting someone new
Restoring the park is what we're going to do
We worked here last year, but something went wrong
Non-native plants and weeds grew back, we thought they were all gone
Pick those weeds, get them from the root
Give the unnecessary plants the boot
By the end of this year we hope they're all gone
So all the native plants can live on

Remember Back Then:
Ebony Reid

Back then when everything here was beautiful
when the trees were as tall as the sky and
birds flew over them
so high in the air they scraped across rainbows
looking like ants swarming in the sky
many animals walked the earth
helping nature complete the circle of life

Remember

Back then in the marsh
when there were so many animals
everything had something to eat
their habitat was beautiful
the grass was so green and
the water was as blue as the sky
so clear
you could see yourself

Remember

Now there the sky is always blue
but animals are one by one disappearing
like ghosts in a haunted house
seeking out their next prey
and taken away from what they know of life
everything is ending
they have no place to go
no way to survive

Soon what was once life will be no more
land that was green, blue
and all the colors of the rainbow
is disappearing
there is nothing left
the only color you see is gray
high tall buildings replace trees
grass is taken over
by roads and non-native plants
lakes, rivers, oceans are sucked up and dried out
like the desert
there is no food to eat
no way to survive
everything
is becoming unbalanced