Gary W. Sherwin's Poetry
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(A Free Verse Allegory For The Loving of Fallen Willows) | ||
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The day of the oak tree, growing downward Sinking snarled roots into fertile sky Immovable and solid as a crumpled brown leaf Thrown skyward on a snowy March wind that blows Swaying, straining, breaking over and down Blowing, blooming willows on a sunny April day They say a broken tree has failed in life For having broken from its purpose And fallen from its stated goals and expectations It will not again reach upward and stand Providing the shade and shelter that make it of use Which is, after all, the reason for its birth From the seed its parent fed They say the fallen hulk deserves to Break, rot, crumble, - die - , be fed upon by termites A fallen tree is not good for anything You can not depend upon it to be there Standing, holding, shading, holding, A world of creatures who rely upon it For food, shelter and insight, Yes who rely upon it. They say the willow failed when it fell But if you look carefully, you will realize how wrong they are Remember the thousand severed branches of furry kittens Shoved into and drowned in a hundred slimy jars For each spring's mother and teacher and favorite acquaintance? Shoved into a jar to be forgotten on the window seal Until the kittens are dead and their pleasant furry warmth is gone? Gone and replaced by the stench of green slimy water Green slimy water in an old stinky jar, reeking of death Remember the thousand severed branches of furry kittens They lost their beautiful fur and died, forgotten in the jar But wait - Didn't they refuse to die? Don't you remember? When they threw away the dead brown sticks That once gray kittens played upon When they pulled the sticks from the black putrid water There were roots. Roots had grown from each brown stick Each stinking jar tried and did kill the exuberant youthful kittens But did not succeed to kill the branch, to kill the tree To kill the willow, refusing to die, clinging to life They say the willow failed but they are wrong For anyone can see that they are blind and can not see The fallen willow grasping and hugging the earth And then next spring bursting forth in victory With an army of new willows with kittens Claiming victory and continued life in its rightful place Which is but to continue being a willow Without pretense of being something else Of being a pine, of being a maple, of being an oak They said the willow should have been like the oak But wasn't the oak tree growing upside down? Turned top over to meet the world's standards Can you see that they are wrong? The day of the oak tree, growing downward Is gone and overcome by a better day A day of love for life and willows being themselves |
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