The Willowing Cry Poem by Timothy Long

Cast Of Characters
John: Lost son in war, wife has cancer and will die soon.,40's, depressed. bitter.
Robert: Widower, lost father and uncle in a car crash recently.30's, grief filled but optimistic life will go on. Well meaning and helpful.

Place: At The national mall between the Lincoln memorial and the Washington monument. Takes place in 2011 after the end of the Iraq war.
Time: Mid afternoon.

ACT
Two men are wondering endlessly in the pretty scenery, lost in their own pain and sorrows not paying attention to the reality around them. Mingling all around them is people going their own way in false hopes and fake securitys, musing and not paying attention, robert bumped into an older gentleman which sent both men reeling to the ground. Tired and angry, John sat on the bench behind him and glared at the stanger, robert feeling bad sat as well leading to a change neither would ever seen coming nor experience ever again.

John
(annoyed)
Watch wear you are going you carless ruffin.
Robert
(apologetic)
My apologies sir, my mind was elsewhere.
John
Excuses, my mind is blind to, but clear enough to not run into others.

Robert
Apologies once again, we did seem to get off on the wrong foot and fretting here will do us no good.
John
I see the mistake here, my emotions have been off as of late if i'm to be fair in taking my own blame of this incident.
Robert
Hmm, you to? Tragedies have befallen me lately and live is becoming harder to love any further,
John
(Curious)
You seem well and alive, what pain can you possibly know to hate life like I do?
Robert
I see you speak in anger and hollow strength, what destroys you so?
John
My love is dying, and my life has just died, all i have is depression on my left and loneliness on my right, ive gotten to know them well.
Robert
Your wife and family?
John
Yes, my son was killed in Iraq and my wife will die within the moth from breast cancer, All that is left is a hurting heart and angry mask to keep hurt further away.
Robert
Death is a great loss indeed, however what becomes the greater loss is what dies inside you while you live.
John
You sound so certain and calm, but only one who feels the pain of loss can say those words truly, what have you loss in your understanding? How can you understand my pain?
Robert
My father and uncle recently were hit and killed by a drunk driver, and my wife was lost three years before that due to pregnancy complications.
John
(Sadly asking)
Any survivors?
Robert
(Accepting)
None, unfortunately the child was still born and she bled out, my family died at the same hospital all from a carless drunk.
John
(Anger Exploding)
What are you hiding? How are you so calm? Do you not care that you are now alone like me. It kills me and i cannot escape, how can you not feel the tears and fears such as mine?
Robert
Death ends life, but never the relationships ive had, Even death itself has a heart, the things we lose or cannot accept always have a way of returning to us in the end.
John
What is you are trying to lecture me about?
Robert
What I mean to say is you seem to bottle everything up, close everything and everyone off, only to have it eat you up one piece at a time until you disappear a fragile man.
John
I do, I cant nor know how to cope yet you seem content in your words and life.
Robert
I had to move, keep my mind wide open, I had come to the conclusion that death while eternal and sad is peaceful. While life is harder, it is frightful to me not to live.
John
What is left to see when your life is no longer yours?
Robert
The leftovers, the things not yet done, you still can travel and conquer what you have not yet seen or done.You look at the despair instead of the happiness.
John
What happiness? All i see is death sadness creeping up on me and it makes the memories too painful to me.
Robert
I see now, your angry that you cant help or change what is happening all around you.
John
(shocked)
Is it that obvious? I feel I may be sharing too much with you but i feel slightly more whole.
Robert
(Understanding)
Forgive yourself for what you can't do, if you truly wish to see who you are, you have to look at your real self and acknowledge what you see.
John
You talk like a comrade of pain, knowing what it feels like to be in pain. It's exactly the reason to be kind to and for others.
Robert
(Amused)
Comrade huh? How about a new friend so your not alone?
John
(Leaning Back, Happier)
A friend is something I haven't heard of in a while, i'd like that very much.
Robert
Does one not destroy an enemy if they become my friend?
John
I suppose you do.
Silence follows for a few minutes
Robert
The way to go on for me was not being sad, but happy I have the time and memories to share with loved ones while alive. So no matter how much suffering you have now, one day you will never want to let go of these memories.
John
I see, I think one thing that would bother me forever is the regret and past that can't be relieved no matter how hard I try.
Robert
All may seem dark and doubtful when dealing with regret, all one can do is to end up with the right regrets.
Both
We loved, we saw much, and suffered greatly, that's all there is to living life completely.
John
Do you have more time to talk? You have been a short comfort and i wish it not to end so soon.
Robert
(Surprised)
Time is manageable, especially to a new friend!
Both decide to walk among the sites
John
The war doesn't really seem quite over just yet.
Robert
Maybe not, but for us it will be sooner rather than later.
John
Hmm?
Robert
It is older men like us that declare war, while the youth must fight it and die for it as well.
John
Indeed, only those who die in war can truly see an end to it.
Robert
You can say your son dedicated his life to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort. Oryou can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, after all nobody truly knows what kind of person they truly are until the very end.
John
I'm not as i once was because of you, I feel I can accept my son's actions not as just his father but his fellow patriot in arms. I can feel some peace from it knowing he chose to do it and died for it.
Robert
What of your wife?
John
I've come to the conclusion you can see a person's whole life in the cancer that appears. She's fought and held on for many years, it's a willowing cry that eats away at her. It kills her spirit, but never quite fully the soul.
Robert
You've been touched by cancer, however your not a life destroyed by it.
John
You made me realize the ultimate truth in our talk today, it makes me feel as if i can go further than before.
Robert
(Softly Grinning)
What is it then?
John
(Softly Smirking)
Despite death or unexpected tragedies, we all have the same life expectancy. One life, That's all we will ever get.
Robert
I'd like to think so as well.
Coming near a train station
John
It would seem this is my final stop.
Robert
I see, the time went by faster than expected. It was quite the experience meeting a person like yourself, we are alike in the companionship of pain and friendship.
John
Likewise, I can't help but feel you were a saving grace for me.

Train starts to appear in distance

Robert
I guess this is the end of the road.
John
It would seem so.
Robert
(At Peace)
Glad I could help, my name is Rob by the way.
John
(Frantic)
Im John, um… will I ever see you again.
Robert
Of course, how about the same time and same place next week?
Both
It works for me.
Train finally arrives
John
Till next Rob, goodbye for now.
Train Takes off into the distance

Rob
Ya, till next time.

Rob slowly walks off into the distance, disappearing into the setting sunset.