I remember writing this. My intention was to present nonsense phrases in a serious manner so that it sounded like some deep poem. It’s easy to write verse after verse when there’s no underlying meaning (relax, I didn’t write verse after verse). I like the rhyming scheme and may someday steal it for something else.
I’ve realized that this poem (8-8-10-8-8-10), intentionally or not, has a similar structure to Billy Joel’s You May be Right (8-8-11-7-7-11) — which has been playing in my head all morning. What kicked off the mental music was me ending a line with ‘alone’ which matches how a line ends in Billy Joel’s song.
The wind the weeping willow bent
Softly, ever reverent
To lie between the earth and endless sky
Alas, the truth be never known
To wander wondering, alone
Skin deep! the cry is raised as by the by
The struggle mightily is lost
A leaf, a storm, a ship is tossed
The crow is spared the scorpion’s last sting
As one we never more shall be
Naked for eternity
The jester hastens lest he best the king
Tremulous, with head held high
The soldier bids his kids goodbye
And barren fields may one year put forth grain
Alive but living in a dream
The silence shredded by a scream
A yearling elk seeks shelter from the rain