Sunday, February 8, 2009

One Single Impression -- Movement

The Willow's Dance

The willow bends before the wind,
And suddenly I am moving in the willow's dance.
Swaying, swaying, I rise and fall in time to
the song of the wind.
Waltzing through blowing grasses
I weave in and out following the intricate patterns
of the tossing branches.
The wind quickens and so does my dance.
Round, round, I whirl like a leaf on the wind.
In a wild crescendo, the wind lifts me in its arms
for one great leap,
Then drops away to a whisper, a gentle breath
that ruffles the willow's leaves and my hair.

s. greer, March 1968


wind, moving the forest,
sound of a thousand branches,
a mountainside
swaying in time;
my body has become oak,
creaking before the wind,
yearning to dance
like the willow,
turning pirouettes
in my mind.

sgreerpitt, February 8, 2009

For more poems on the theme of movement see One Single Impression.

16 comments:

Quiet Paths said...

I really liked that you posted both pieces in comparison.

sound of a thousand branches,
a mountainside
swaying in time,

each line is so multi layered.

Amias (ljm and liquidplastic) said...

Sue, both of these are amazing .. I so love watching the wind play with the weeping willow tree ... and when I was a child, I would rush to it when it got windy, even the whipping of its limbs didn't deter me.

ahhh ... memories, "the willow dance"....

Anonymous said...

This was a good prompt, brought out a lot of Oness is many contributors.I loved reading about you and the willow- dance on!

floreta said...

i like your interpretation of dance! very gentle.

anthonynorth said...

Both excellent. The first is like a beautiful waltz. Nature in perfect harmony.

SandyCarlson said...

That's a lovely dance. The speaker is so lithe in the arms in the breeze.

I like the perspective from inside the tree, too. Oh, the creaking. I begin to know it.

Beth P. said...

Sue--
This is so amazing--never really thought about trees comparing their gifts before...

Thank you for the beauty of recognizing all the gifts...in them...and us!

Roswila said...

my body has become oak,
creaking before the wind,
yearning to dance
like the willow,

These are fabulous lines.

gautami tripathy said...

Both stand out..in different ways. THanks for that.

movement

Anonymous said...

lovely juxtaposition.

Sherri B. said...

What a lovely sense of movement I got when reading your words...I could almost feel the wind in my hair. A very joyful poem!

Anonymous said...

See what spring can do to you? Your delight with the coming season shines through them.

Tumblewords: said...

Life in a breeze. These are beautiful images with amazing energy and movement.

Anonymous said...

..the charm of the oak & the willow..beautiful..

Jim said...

I'll take the willow, someone else can have the oak (with its creaking). In first poem I thought you were a loose leave fluttering and gradually getting away from the tree. Then I see it really is you lost in the movement of the trees and wind.
Pretty neat,
..

Maggie said...

These pieces remind me of watching pines swaying dance with the wind at a mountain cabin last year...I loved it and thanks for showing me the dances with your visual pen here.