# Come Read the Water [Intro — spoken over flowing water] Before we name the water, let the water speak. Before we try to manage it, let us learn how to listen. [Verse 1] A drop on a leaf, a cloud on the hill, A spring finding passage through stone, A river remembers the shape of the land, Yet never makes one place its home. It moves through the root and rises through trees, It circles the Earth and the sky— The water within us is meeting the water That carries the whole world by. [Pre-Chorus] Bring what you know, Bring what you wonder, Bring your story to the stream. Science and spirit, Memory and making— More is alive here than it seems. [Chorus — call and response] Come read the water! (We are learning how!) Come hear the water! (We are listening now!) From the well to the wetland, From the raindrop to the sea— Come coexplore the water, And what the water asks of me. [Verse 2] Some measure the rainfall, the current, the depth, Some sing to the river at dawn, Some build with the water, some care for the source, Some ask where the old flow has gone. A sensor, a story, a vessel, a prayer, A garden that welcomes the rain— Each holds a fragment; together we learn How water makes life whole again. [Pre-Chorus] Bring what you know, Bring what you wonder, Bring the wisdom of your place. Many ways of knowing, Many ways of making, Meeting in the water’s embrace. [Chorus — call and response] Come read the water! (We are learning how!) Come hear the water! (We are listening now!) From the body to the watershed, From the mountain to the sea— Come coexplore the water, And what the water asks of we. [Bridge — spoken rhythmically] Water cosmotechnics: How does a people live with water? What do we build—and what do we honor? What does the river teach the machine? What does the watershed make us mean? Not one world imposed upon water, But many worlds meeting through water— Technology joined with responsibility, Knowledge joined with humility. [Breakdown — voices entering one by one] Water in the soil… Water in the cell… Water in the weather… Water in the well… Water between peoples… Water without borders… Water carries memory— And water connects us all. [Final Chorus — full community choir] Come read the water! (We are learning how!) Come hear the water! (We are listening now!) From the ancient ways of knowing To the futures yet to be— Come coexplore the water, Come imagine differently. Come read the water! (Every voice belongs!) Come join the water! (Carry on the song!) With respect for every living place And responsibility— Come coexplore the water: Water gives us life— And water teaches How to be. [Outro — sung softly] Bring what you know, Bring what you wonder, Meet us by the water.
