Chronicles of a forsaken patch

They took so much and left us
this and that, you tell me once
again, as if I haven't heard you
once before telling me of what was taken

amid sunrise, that they have taken
all the stones, willing to build new houses
out of our old bones
but stop, they saved us water

for a time long enough to balance
the intake of oxygen and the separation
into drops, this is what they first intended
to build canals out of land patches

and praise, they took this and that
more fruits for the cultivation of jam
to make extra sugar, red strawberries
milked out of our blood

they take this and that, you tell me again
the river, the countryside, our patch
of land and sing once more: this is my land
and yours, free to the seer

but be, you said despite this and that
travel with nothing more than your clothes
upon your back, like a nomad
but never leave, be back to demand,
the land where you stand.