Willow, Weep For Us Poem by Peter Jay Shippy

The large body waltzed the small body
Across the room. A mother and child?

Princess and dwarf? The faithful son
Dancing with his maddened mother,

Pretending to be the man who forsook
Them both, years ago? Hard to say

Though I was only inches away
From their window, crouching in a bush.

Oleander? I'd lost my glasses which
Made it tough for me to smell. Go figure.

The large body waltzed the small body.
The pain in my gut wasn't going

Anywhere soon. Forsaken? Plus,
There was a sharp in my shoe— a stone

Or a bird. The latter, I hoped.
We'd all be wishing for a song soon.