I am the Willow in the wind.

My being tranquil on this spot,

Until the unwise of time rots my ownership.

That time in the future I cannot see,

I will own my plot of land.

Every inch above and below the ground,

Will know my spirit and my being.

I spread my limbs miles and miles, I see no end.

I spread my roots miles and miles, I see no end.

I give quiet reflection to our master,

The force of creation of the universe.

My universe as I know this universe,

Was created as I might spread my limbs

And feel heaven and feel earth.

To share and know this with all beings.

As I majestically spread my silver gray green leaves

And flicker shadows and sunlight in a gentle breeze.

Though the winter strips my leaves,

And I sit upon the land as a bare thought,

Looking like a thorn bush stripped and barren.

I am underneath strong and vibrant,

Quietly awaiting the sun and showers,

To call me forth to my summertime brilliance.

I laugh as the wind billows through my leaves.

I sit still and my tendrils hang like sleeves.

My trunk solidifies in praise to my God.

As I bow down to this God of my being,

My limbs quietly bend in adoration.

Praising the heavens with my billow,

My being stands up with his power,

To bough and flourish in my place

I quietly sit while my arms drag on the lawn.

They shade the land and a small brown fawn.

Mountains move under my continuity.

Ownership of my land is not by title,

But by my unending rootholds.

Root tendrils forever expanding,

Flowing with change, bending, twisting,

Caressing and engulfing all in my way.

I quietly, lovingly hang around, committing no sin.

My life is one of growth, as songbirds fly out and in.

Mornings in welcome to my radiant sun,

And knowing its feel from the very top leaf,

Illumining me, as I increase absorption,

To spend my day flickering in it brilliance,

As each leaf sparkles, in green-silver splendor.

God, I loving being a tree. Just heaven, earth and me.

My green leaves billow and float upon the breeze.

Bark covers and snuggles in a caressing squeeze.

On windy days I feel my skin vibrate and know sound.

Winds melody echoes and creaks through my being.

I feel limbs scrap and brush another sun gatherer.

I give my falling leaves to be dissolved and given back,

My friends the air, water, moss, algae, all fermenting,

And back nourishment through my myriad tendrils.

I bend, absorb, billow, as an airfoil on a ship.

I leap out at the sky, showing not a tiny rip.

I feel-watch as the slow afternoon,

Shadows one leaf after another

And I quiet my growth down,

Leaf after leaf, giving up sunlight,

Until the very last leaf

Says goodnight to its feeder.

I harvest shadows in my sprawling magnificence.

I lay down quietly in surrender to gravities innocence.

I even feel the slight light of night and the moon,

And know the stars and the water reflection.

A spirit of quietness pervades my space.

Night’s shadow fills the eyes of man with pleasure

And I give calm repose to the minds under my wings.

I grow like you, with our source being the universal tree.

But know, that as we both part, you’ll be one with me.

Roland James