Tangled in the loving slender arms
I would knot the ends
To make a swing
Under my willow tree

It sat next to an old farmhouse
Deserted since the depression
Along the banks of
The Wapsipinicon

Untamed grandeur
During a storm
I climbed into her knotty divide
The tree held me
Like a mother cuddling me to her breast

I wanted to be that willow tree
Its soulful sway
The ability to stand firm
Throughout the worst
Give comfort to anyone seeking it

Someone took an ax
To my willow tree
As if a nuisance
Without regard
For all it endured

Barrenness now resides
Where life once lived