Once when I looked at willows, I would say, "Thin-fingered women are underneath that hair!" Or, at the close of a quieter day, A flock of tall birds would seem standing there On single legs, heads tucked in for the night Under gray-green plumage -- "Willow, willow is the note If roots turn claws, and boughs go up in flight!" Or, "A river-woman with a long white throat Will come if I call 'Willow!'" So I would say When I looked at the willows once -- But today, The actual willow, the fact of a tree Seems fanciful and beutiful enough for me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOW TO BE A POET (TO REMIND MYSELF) by WENDELL BERRY PARAGRAPHS: 9 by HAYDEN CARRUTH INDEPENDENCE DAY, 1956, A FAIRY TALE by JAMES GALVIN FINIS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON REVIEW by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE BLACK RUNNER by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON |