Cascading branches trail in
The lake, making tiny tremors
Form on the surface of the water.
Your small leaves drift in the breeze, shedding
In clusters, floating gently in cliques.
What a perfect shady spot for tired, bobbing ducklings
And the triumphant glide of black and white swans!

Long and lingering,
Your arms embrace the earth
Where you straddle the bank majestically,
Opening the imagination with
Your swaying, clinging limbs,
settling dreams and piercing grief with your tears.
Sacred tree, your grace is astounding.

So many people have passed you today,
So many birds have skimmed alongside your leaves
And lighted on your wavering branches.
The stories you could tell!
So few listen to you now,
or bow before you with respect.
Ancient Weeping Willow, no wonder you cry.

*

First, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has read and reviewed my other poetry...and thank you in advance for reading this one!

This poem appears in "Immortality Lives...Embracing Poetry in a New Age." It is part of the section titled: New Antiquity: History, Nature, and Sonnets.