Thursday 2 March 2017

Willow (June 15, 2012)

Oh
Sister Willow
Your branches
Spread out wide
Like a giant umbrella.

Handling
The stresses of life.

Unlike your brothers
Maple Oak and Elm
Tall stately trees.

Towering
Into the skyline
With majestic
Rigid branches.

This year's heavy snowfall
Crippled many stately crowns
Unable to handle the burden.

While
The ugly sister survives
On tiny slender branches.

But
Beauty is
In the eye
Of the beholder.

Better
To be flexible
Then dead.
From stress
And diseases.

Swaying
Beneath summer's
Hot breath.

Therisa © 2012

Author's note: From my poetic vault. Only changed the arrangement of some stanzas and words, for spelling corrections.


33 comments:

Thotpurge said...

better to adapt of course, still staying true to your own self. nice analogy.

Old Egg said...

Each tree has their own allure. I quite like the whispering Aspens who seem to talk to you! Glad you dug this out the vault Therisa.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Thotpurge, wrote this poem, while riding the local bus, to the subway station, on my way, to an appointment, back then.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Love the tender wistfulness in your lines, Therisa :)

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Sanaa, lots of trees were damaged, it took until almost July, before all of the broken branches were cleared up.

Therisa's World said...

So very true, Robin, although, I have little patience, for the Sumac trees, and it's ability to shelter mosquitoes. Darn weed tree.

Gillena Cox said...

Luv the fact that you contemplate nature to this extent. Yes there certainly is personality in those trees.
Here in Trinidad. I Luv when the Yellow Poui, bust out in their golden splendor. Shouting (I really feel that I can hear them) its Easter Time.
Happy you dropped by my Sunday Standard today at my blog.

Much love...

Sumana Roy said...

aw...more power to the slender branches...love this...

Mary said...

Ah, better to be flexible than dead....definitely important to keep this in mind. Somehow we have to find a way to survive.

Rommy said...

I always thought willows were quite pretty.

indybev said...

Oh please do go into your vault more often. This is lovely to read!

brudberg said...

This reminds me of the saying that a geisha should have the strength of willow... bending but never breaking... yes that is beauty...

scotthastiepoet said...

Nice crisp writing Therisa - you capture the essence of things here...

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Oh there is such a good message here - better to survive than be dead, any old day. Smiles. We survivors have our wrinkles, but we're still here!Gloriously so. I loved this one, Therisa.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Bev, for your kind words. Have about 2400 more poems, in my poetic vault. Not all of them, do I feel comfortable sharing, for various reasons.

Anonymous said...

I love the message here and the way that we can find strength and beauty by looking for deeper truths in nature. Lovely, Therisa :-)

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Gillena, and your welcome. There are some days, which my writing reaches that next level, as this poem shows.

Susan said...

I find that ability to survive most beautiful!

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Sumana, am trying to myself, so I can be like the willow, able to bend, without breaking.

Therisa's World said...

The right way, which allows, to heal us, while flowing with the punches that life brings to us, at times. Wonder, if President Trump has anyone to remind him, of this, instead of the "yes" men and women, who surround him. For I see him, as one of the damaged maples, from my poem.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Rommy, to me, the willow is, a tree, in constant mourning. I know, this won't make sense to many people, but then again, I see life differently, from others.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Bjorn, have never heard of that saying, about geisha and willows, before. Interesting, I and that saying, have identify, the willow, as female.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Scott.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Sherry.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

I love it (though I am largely unacquainted with snowfalls). Beautiful literally and metaphorically.

In case you missed my answer to your comment on mine, I appreciate your reading, but please feel free to ignore my more formal efforts in future. I won't be offended, now that you have explained. (I don't want to torture anyone through poetry!)

Myrna R. said...

So nicely and poetically stated, to survive we must bend a little. Good writing!

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Rosemary, consider yourself, lucky. Toronto is suppose to get 15=25 cm, in the next 48 hours, of dry powder snow. Sometimes, during snowstorms get freezing rain or icy pellets, mixed that result in black outs, from downed power lines, what happened, in December 2013, when I went 40 hours, without any electricity, in my apartment. It was made worse, by the outside temperatures, being well below 0 C, just before Christmas, too.

Will try to read your more formal works, Rosemary, and respond, when possible.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Wow, I do count myself lucky. I hate the cold!

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, C.C, for your gracious words. Looking back, at this poem, now, think I was sadden, by the senseless loss of these trees, to me.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Susan, at that time, I was struggling, with my mental health, with my semi-annual bout of depression.

Therisa's World said...

Same here. Much prefer, the seasons of Spring/Fall, before the extreme weather of Summer/Winter intruded.

Therisa's World said...

Thank you, Myrna, often, am filled with doubts, where my poems are worthy, to be shared, with others.

Bekkie Sanchez said...

I love the willow trees, so pretty on my bike rides. Beautifully put.

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