A Willow Tree

Someday I'd like to wander free

like butterfly, like bumblebee,

perhaps to plant a willow tree

beside the silent solemn sea,

before these things exist no more,

from mountain top to shifting shore,

when, soon, bald eagles cease to soar

and build their aeries nevermore,

and fish forsake polluted streams

(where sulfur swims and typhoid teems

since no one really cares it seems)

to die inside our toxic dreams

while ice caps melt and winter steams,

and all the air surrounding reeks

as children choke, for no one speaks

of fracking wells or oily leaks

(Big Brother's silenced all critiques!),

and rancid rains acidify

so woods no longer multiply

(for God so wills, we can't deny,

which is, of course, our alibi).

And as the deepest ocean fills

with plastic bags, and garbage spills

upon the plains, across the hills

and turns to poison dust that kills

wild dingo dogs and daffodils

which sink in swamps’ forsaken swills,

the mocking bird makes light and trills

(midst waning wails of whippoorwills)

"Behold the surreal scene that chills

and greet the dread that death distills!

You've had your day with all the frills

that brought the flood and final ills

that can't be cured with bitter pills 

nor yet undone with further thrills

of profit gained that grinds and fills

dead desert sands with dollar bills."

              EPILOGUE

Though swaddled still in infancy,

we feel we’ve reached our primacy

(aloof, though preaching piously,

disdaining deeds of decency)

and have no need of augury.

But in the pit of prophecy

the crucial questions seem to be:

“Is doom earth’s fate, our destiny

to twist in tides of agony

destroying nature’s progeny

with no return a certainty

assured by death’s finality?” 

and

        ”Should we plant a willow tree

to someday weep for you and me?”

Reviews

[Beccy]

This is so awfully prophetic that it makes me shudder.

Strange is the contradiction called humankind. Even in the midst of the destruction we are wreaking upon this wonderful gift of a planet, there exists in us a beauty that cannot be denied.

For me, your exquisitely wrought poem is a perfect example of this contradiction.

Beccy.

[Terry O'Leary]

Thank you, Beccy! You are very kind!!

Because of all of the destruction, it's getting harder to see the beauty... but you're right, there's still some left...

Terry

[Terpsichore]

This ought to be shouted from the rooftops; not that most of the inhabitants of this little blue dot would give much of a toss.

I think Beccy summed it up perfectly; we are indeed a contradiction.

T

[Terry O'Leary]

Thank you, T! Yes... 'shouted from the rooftops' ... or screemed before it's tooooo late...

Terry

[ReedWrite]

Oh...wow!
This is...wow.
I love the flow...how it builds in intensity. You captured this as the stanzas grew in length. As I read it, I heard the words crescendo. And then the last stanza...Should we plant a willow tree/to one day weep for you and me. SO impactful. I love the line: (big brother's silenced all critiques!). Vibes of 1984, is it not? And sooo true. Thank you for posting this. I loved it.

[Terry O'Leary]

Thank you, ReedWrite!

I'm happy to read the reaction you've described!!

Yes... 'vibes of 1984'... but actually in many ways far worse than Orwell imagined/predicted...

Terry

[Pete]

This is very deep and has many layers. You pose a very longing question at the end. I have to read this multiple times and get something different from it each time. Excellent job.

[Terry O'Leary]

Thank you, Pete!

I am happy that you've taken so much time to 'analyse' my words!
read moreThank you, Pete!

I am happy that you've taken so much time to 'analyse' my words!

Terry

[Lorne Blaine]

Great rythm and great words instilling beautiful imageries, that's poetry. I was mused throughout the whole ride, and this is now one of my favourite poems that I have found on this site, thank you.

[Terry O'Leary]

Thank you, Lorne!

You are very kind and I'm happy you enjoyed!!!

Terry

[Valentine]

God made a beautiful world, and I agree...man has destroyed much of it. But we can't give up, just take care of the world around you. Valentine

[Terry O'Leary]

Thank you, Valentine!

You're right... we can't give up... the first step is to become aware... which is had to do with the media owned and financed by those that are profiting by the destruction......

Terry