Willow Branches

[crashmargulies]

From the unposted archives, October 2020


I wish I was a force of nature.
I wish
I didn't bend so well,
a willow branch
in a child's hand,
green green give and no
snap
to speak of.
Find me weeping
by the river with the treeflesh
still under their nails.
They tell you trees grow strong.
They never mention how hard it is
to be rooted--
to be still when you're woven
into baskets to hold
the hearts of other peoples'
figuring out. 
"It's only a branch, it's only
a bough."
The storm is weathered,
but you cannot pick up what you've lost
without someone else's 
hands.