PRAYER OF PRAYERS For the Water Protectors at Standing Rock The leaves hang on into mid-November oak, alder, locust— each one a prayer flag singing aloud— scarlet, cinnamon, gold rippling with wind’s rough caress. Every acorn, every hickory nut, a tobacco tie hung in the trees; they call out to us come harvest your prayers. Soon a blanket of prayers will cover the earth and the trees will stand like prayer poles dressed in feathers— gifts from blue jay, eagle, hummingbird, meadowlark. The planet prays for us, for itself; the planet sings for November’s endurance, weaves a nest for our…