Youth walks where the earth remembers
In the quiet, they bend to the soil,
not planting, but listening.
Water returns first as a whisper,
a pulse beneath ruined stones
They follow it, barefoot,
as if tracing the breath of an ancestor
What was shattered still carries seeds
And their hands, unafraid of mud,
wake them
No one tells the river to rise again
It rises because someone stays,
soft as rain,
stubborn as root
And in that stubbornness
a new country begins
Poet: Luan Ritchelle (32) is a Brazilian agroecologist whose work explores regeneration through soil, water and human presence. He works at the intersection of ecological practice, traditional knowledge and care for living landscapes. Contact: luanraanjos@gmail.com
This poem is part of Issue 4-2026: Youth leading the way in agroecology.
