Rooted

Rooted
Weeping willow women
our branches are breaking
from the burden of this waiting
we crack knuckles like ice trays
our panic mimics heart failure
and how poetic it is to break this way
we hold hope in caverns where bones sleep
eyes weak heavy from the weight of water
we are standing in an ocean of oysters shucked of our pearls
we are waiting for the sand to creep in again
to create for you diamonds
because sometimes we are unpredictable
gypsies let us be your fortress
futures told in palm readings
we are hand holders
weeping willow women
stretch out your branches
we are tree trunk sturdy
clothed in this bark of betrayal
sometimes sitting silently in autumn mornings
makes us regret our roots
we are birthed in apologies
like this barbed wire in our throats
we have wilted
we are waiting
for anything
to hold us open like water lilies
unfolding lightening
the way hands do
open to you
waiting
we are waiting for the static in our chests
to turn to butterflies again
waiting for the lightening bugs in bellies
to set souls on fire
waiting for our insides to not feel
like abandoned building
shearing the echoes of heartbeats in drum through our ribcages
we are not broken open
we are holding ourselves together
the way bark does
wrap your branches around you tightly wait for the storm to pass
my weeping willow women lift your heads up
caught in this torrential downpour daily
let the thunder be your voice
speak clearly with all your anger and abandon
drumming birthed beats breaking mountains
we are breaking moon chunks
to build rivers in veins again
shove your roots back into the earth
steady yourself and wait
We are the moon,
the tide, the sun that rises
we are givers, lovers, thinkers, mothers
we scrape the marrow from our bones
to give strength to others
and ask nothing in return
we return to the pasts that did not break us yet
we break, we heal
we hold oceans in our skin
grow forests from our limbs
we are dream catchers, wind dancers, creators
weeping women ripping branches
from our bodies planting willow in the earth
whole trees can grow from us
every time we break we give birth to ourselves
again and again and again
never the same always stronger the scars on our trunks
map out our pasts like tree rings
how long has it been
since the last time you broke?