Sunday, November 07, 2021

Lorne Shirinian: Willow Weep for Me

Willow weep for me
Bend your branches down along the ground
And cover me

(A popular song composed in 1932 by Ann Ronell, 
recorded by Billie Holiday in Los Angeles 
on September 3, 1954.)

time enough still
I told myself
a poem a story a book a film
a life accomplished
yet more to do

but time tricked me
woke one day bent low
along the ground
the future tense sucked out
ready for the table

willow, there were times
when the words dropped like honey
on the page 
I couldn’t stem the flow
and I was chided by some to linger longer
you’re publishing too much

how much is too much for a desperate writer
tell me, willow,
I can’t live according to their inadequacies
I have difficulties enough with my own

soon enough, willow,
I will gather all my pages
and let your canopy cover me 
a final caress, a murmur to the night
let the shadows fall
I will take them all with me

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