Be a Willow
A prompted poem for my son
The willow tree is one of the few trees that is capable of bending in outrageous poses without snapping. Dixie Brown, Willow Place for Women
Be a willow
Embrace rather than brace
Drop every leaf of resistance,
allowing the storm to shape you –
the winds and waves, compass
choreographer
Weep when Spirit prompts
Without shame, tears feeding your roots
like robins — arias of wisdom
and renewal — feeding their young.
Even now, you are dancing
your arms
arcs de triomphe, at the ready
to engage in exultant pas de deux
with the world,
sheltering others but first,
the dryad leavening your bark
from the raw, blistering sunburn
of disbelief, despair,
an irreparably broken heart
©Jenine Bsharah Baines 2020
I began this poem after a phone call with my son left me feeling like I’d blown it. Not because of what I said but what I hadn’t.
