The Willow Must Weep

Why does the willow weep?

A creature of slender sorrow

who lives designated by design

amid the terrible net of nature

To be the one that must weep

The oak stands tall

the evergreen is unchanging

But by the river banks

the willow must weep

Till fire cleanses

those too old to grow

Or storms and disasters

take away the bearing of the roots

and upheave the sickly trees

These trees that live

must live to see another day

So the oak will stand tall

The evergreen will remain unchanged

and that poor tree the willow

will lay by the river and weep

If only they knew

the lessons that we've learned so well

That our leaves and our bark

cannot define a beating heart

Such a proud thing must stand apart

and become what they are meant to be

In these words

the trees may hear the magic spell

that will give there burden shape

So the oak will fall

The evergreen will die

And by those river banks

the ones that have seen tears uncountable

That is where the willow

will finish weeping.