Little bird

In a forest without a tree

Little bird had no reason to sing

All life had been commoditised

Where is left?

For little bird to nest

Crown land or private property

Capitalise and capture

A king’s domain

The rule of law

Divine right

To own all

Trading away the world

Leaving nothing for all

-Camille Delaquise

This poem appears in RISE, Camille’s second contemporary poetry collection. Little bird reflects on the violence of turning the living world into property — mourning how commodification, ownership and extraction leave less and less room for fragile life to belong, shelter and endure.