Willow by Carol Anderson

fallen willow warrior
guardian of the bay and sky
torqued by water and winter
a prayer scrawled on the wind

weed trees—
willows don’t last
they glory

pollarded and scarred
living to shelter and dance wild
in storm and light
old wounds grown over
cored in earth and heartwood
until the fall
reflection shatters
and after—

sinking, out beyond the shore
a sprawl of dying branches
witness shoots birthing
digging in the green bank
hungry to root and soar.

~from Still Dances (2015)