An Old Friend

Dear old friend, I speak for many a grown-up child

We are sorry and sad that you have been beguiled

While your cascading branches still quiver in the breeze

There is no way for you to hide that you look ill at ease

Gone are those days when we were your fruit

Around your trunk playing kiss chase in hot pursuit

You provided us shelter from the hot summer sun

In your flowing leaves you protected each and every one

And when we needed a confidant we were always aware

Of your soft leafy rustle as if to whisper you care

You were the centrepiece around whom our days revolved

You never failed to nurture us as our young lives evolved

But children aren’t built with a sentimental mind

So please forgive us when we left that we left you behind

Sadly the estate in which you faithfully stood no longer exists

You’re overgrown and forlorn in an overgrown midst

We feel sad to see you stand alone as you wither and weather

And that owing to development you were shunned altogether

For not far from your weepy eye is an institution anew

And now the distant sound of children is just deja-vu

But while you no longer get the chance to affect new recruits

Remember your influence is as far-reaching as your roots

You still have a stately aura and are as graceful in your endeavour

You rise out of the wasteland as formidable as ever

Wise old friend, we know they have been so cruel

You were significant in our childhood and a pillar of our school

But fear not that in our adult minds you won’t live on

It’s a human trait to not know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone

Indelible tree please accept our plea

For you will always be our faithful and majestic Willow Tree