Andrea Agostini – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I was in the water. I looked up and saw four red balloons, two white, floating away.
someone had just let them go. I watched as they drifted, staying proximal for a while.

Kristin O’Neal – Atlanta, GA

My feet firm on the concrete and toes on the sewer grate
The afternoon rain gushes along my ankles and sieves through my toes

Heather Gleason – Deland, FL

The wind blowing and whistling through the trees as they sway,
bend and break in an unchoreographed and unpredictable manner as the storm blows in.

Leymis Bolanos – Sarasota, FL

Driving through Bradenton with the Manatee River to my north and the Gulf of Mexico to the west,
I’m reminded how deeply water surrounds my life.

Lori Yuill – Houston, Texas

You snap a picture
Do you hear the sirens calling? Please don’t be afraid
Can drowning also feel like not drowning?

Andrea Diaz-Garcia

During a school trip in November to Umatilla, we spent five days in cabins on campgrounds near the woods.
On the last day of the trip, we had a bonfire late at night.

Sofia Felibert

One night, I was on the beach with a friend and we sat quietly in the sand beneath a pitch dark sky.
In the distance, a thunderstorm rolled in, and flashes of light lit up the sky.

Sidney Richardson

On my 15th birthday I decided to spend the day at the beach surrounded by the people I love.

Hailee Woods

My favorite nature moment was when we went to Umatilla this year. We went canoeing on this beautiful lake.

Kisura Williams

I used to collect caterpillars and trap them in my hand so they could tickle my palm.

Students from Miami Arts Charter, Miami, FL – Alexandra Abelson

Over Thanksgiving break 2025 it was my grandma’s 80th birthday. She flew me and my family to Hawaii.
We went on a long 4 mile hike through the bamboo forest, pointing out flowers, the water balls,
and watching the birds land on the trees.

Tianna Morgon – Kansas City, Missouri

I smell the dampness of the earth where it comes up, kissing the rocks, mixing its mist with the oxygen.
The sound of the crickets greeting not me, but it – I am a witness and audience member – to their show.

Gaynelle Goslin – West Palm Beach

Three inches – that’s how much the sea has risen since I moved into my Florida home 25 years
ago. 6 inches – That’s how much it has risen since the 1950’s. 8-10 inches

Gaynelle Goslin – New Hampshire
 
Shh, If you are still, you can hear it
Whisper of wind through long leaf pine
Tremble of ancient hemlocks

Smile Garcia – Los Angeles,CA
Uni- VERSE/ ONE SONG

My cells dance as they embrace each cosmic wave of emotion.
In movement, we transform.

Patton White – Atlanta, GA

A Brief History of The Grand Canyon
Patton wrote this poem in the zoom workshop that you led. He was so moved by your influence.

Kellie Lynch – New Haven, CT

They never knew I walked along the old railroad path where the grass was overgrown and the wild life enjoyed the taste of skin in the summer.

Dale Andree – Miami, FL

Stepping into the mud, it covers my foot and embraces it like a hug.
Pulling my foot out takes effort and balance and creates the sound of escape.
I dip my hands into the mud, reaching deeper each time.

Mary Spring – Miami

Time slows, contracts
I am in between measurable time
past present and future collide
I was, I am, I will be…

Constance Clare Newman – California

Desert Movement Arts Found Poem
Layers of silver and gold
danced deep in a canyon
high above my Native land.

Christine Little – Hallowell, Maine

Currents began to flow
Into my awareness
When Five years old
Tidal waters crashing along the rocky coast of Maine

Barbara Oesterlin-Heath – Whitefield, ME

An Early Fall Day I arise and look outside to see a bluebird sky and the trees along the field’s edge swaying to a gentle breeze.
I walk to the door and crack it open just enough to feel the cool fresh air.

Kerri Brock – Oakville, Ontario

Nature is the grand majesty of all life – she IS life. Mother of all. She is perfect in her rhythms, resplendent in her forms, divine in her melody.

Alexandria Davis – Michigan

My work is a conversation with the world, weaving threads of social and interpersonal commentary.

Rebecca Cannan – Rogers, Arkansas

Listen closely and you will hear tiny voices rising from the forest floor
Bright, vivid, deep purple, strong

Amanda Gabaldon – Tampa Bay, Florida

Dancing with the water,
Dancing for the water,
feeling the waves of movement

Amanda Gabaldon – Tampa Bay, Florida

what would the bay want us to know
I wasn’t always carved out of rock and sand.
There were moments in time where I was dotted

Curated by Arsimmer McCoy
Writer-International poet-Educator-Creative programmer-Cultural worker-Performance-collaborative artist
(This poem was created from nature reflections submitted by participants of National Water Dance 2026 from all across the United States.)

My feet firm on the concrete and toes on the sewer grate
The afternoon rain gushes along my ankles and sieves through my toes (There’s a richer metaphor here,
something like a broken dam, but I can’t quite find it…