I Envied the Willow
I envied the willow in the early haze,
set against an emerging sun, fog lingering on her dainty branches that wandered into the water against the still surface in the almost imperceptible breeze.
She had time to dig her roots into the deep earth,
Down, down inside the crystal molten heat,
The belly of the planet.
I envied how her branches danced and sang out,
Weeping through the night and day,
Winding in and out of dreams.
She had time to settle into her existence,
Feel what she felt, there alone in the cold, the warmth, the shifting seasons.
Oh, I envied her stillness!
Silently watching the water, as the rains poured, overflowing edges, seeping out on to the land, absorbing everything,
Then rushing on to an unseen destination,
On to something bigger and broader,
Wider and full of things eyes cannot see.
Oh, how I envied her!
Naked and shaking her long tendrils off in the midday light,
Housing the birds, iridescent blue streaks of song fluttering and nesting in her warm body.
There she stood.
Day after day.
Month after month.
Year after year.
Watching, sensing, listening, an unseen observer,
As wars trampled the earth, and lovers held hands beneath her branches.
She had time to just be, in the lonely hours by the field of lilies.
I envied the willow,
For she was allowed to weep,
Expected to weep,
Beautiful when she wept,
There on the riverbank.
