The Salicaceae

Why do the willows weep?
Should they not sing instead?
A whistle wild in fierceness
for theirs is the haven of the beavers 
and the spring fawn 
and adult-children, with hair that mimics the branches 
returning to lay their burdens down.

Theirs is a harvest song 
a firelight liturgy
that in the wake of half-shade
and rainless summers
they have still become - 
5 – no, 10 taller by the year.

 
Theirs is the trembling 
creation of greatness becoming small
quiet humility laying itself down 
roots extending and branches sloping
5 – no, 10 longer by the year.

Theirs is the melancholy cry 
for a branch newly fallen 
is full of life unspent 
recalling to mind how it felt to be a tree and
a seedling appears 
5 – no, 10 more by the year.

Why do the willows weep?
Should they not sing instead?
No - instead they curl up around her, let their branches fall lower
whistle the long, sad dirge of the Quietly Strong
for the adult-child, 
with the hair that mimics its own, 
with burdens so heavy her body slopes.