"Willow"

BY KEVIN EDWARDS

If I were like the willow tree

Would I grow tall, could that be me?

With roots so deep that I could stand

And fall, and strive, and rise again?

Could I have bark that I defend

And shield the heart and soul within?

Could I stand firm ‘gainst winter’s frost?

Could I hold fast at any cost?

Ever reaching toward sun and sky

Not bothered by the how or why,

Just live, and do, and worry not

Of seasons’ change, nor nature’s plot.

Could I leave the world better than

The world I knew when I began?

Would I, kind, wise, and upright be

If I were like the willow tree? -