malalai khan

Clouds come creeping,
Rain comes seeping,
Storm is looming,
While the Moon is blooming
Out of sight.

Alone in the meadow,
Stands the willow,
Who weeps over
A field of clovers,
In the dead of night.

Something glows
Out of the woes,
As one cloud separates
And lets out rays
Of silver light.

In lily covering,
She comes hovering,
Her hair flowing,
Her eyes glowing, 
The Lady in White.

"Dear Willow, dear Willow
Why do you cry?
Just dance to sleep 
To my lullaby!

La la la la, 
La la la la,
La la la la,
La la la la!

The clouds rage,
The winds coldly billow, 
The storm is passing,
Dance, my dear willow!

La la la la, 
La la la la,
La la la la,
La la la la!

Dear Willow, dear Willow
Why do you cry?
Just dance to sleep 
To my lullaby!”

The willow tossed
Hither and thither,
Weeping, wailing,
Left to wither.

He raised his head
And with a broken sigh,
Sang in answer
To the lullaby!

"Here I lie
In this earthly sojourn,
With no reason to live
But to mourn.

For all the flowers
Come under my shade,
Yet I am also in need
Of love, my lovely maid."

"Dear Willow, dear Willow
Oh, do not cry!
Just dance to sleep 
To my lullaby!

La la la la, 
La la la la,
La la la la,
La la la la!

The clouds rage,
The winds coldly billow, 
The storm is passing,
Dance, my dear willow!

La la la la, 
La la la la,
La la la la,
La la la la!

Dear Willow, dear Willow
Oh, do not cry!
Just dance to sleep 
To my lullaby!”

The willow turned
And swayed with the gale,
Till the sky spat
Rain and hail.

The Maiden held 
His branches tight,
And waltzed with the willow
In the darkened night.

The heavens maddened
And thundered on,
But the sky flashed open.
Was it the light of dawn?

The Maiden sang,
And did not let go 
Of the willow’s branches
That burned and glowed.

"Dear Willow, dear Willow
Do not let go!
Hold on to me
As your bit of hope!

La la la la, 
La la la la,
La la la la,
La la la la!

The clouds rage,
The winds coldly billow, 
The storm is passing,
Dance, my dear willow!

La la la la, 
La la la la,
La la la la,
La la la la!

"Dear Willow, dear Willow
Do not let go!
Hold on to me
As your bit of hope!”

The willow shook
And leaned over,
Collapsing in ashes
Onto the clovers.

The Maiden cried
And fell to her knees,
And lamented a lullaby
For the woeful tree. 

Left in song
From sorrows deep,
And fallen into 
Eternal sleep,

The willow laid rest
Under the raging sky,
While the Moon sang
Her lullaby. 

“Dear willow, dear willow,
Lay down to sleep,
Leave me to the night
As I am left to weep.

(In a whisper)
I shall sing you
The nocturnal song
All night 
long.”

P.S. In 2020, my sister told me I couldn’t write a gothic poem like those of Byron, Keats and Emily Dickinson. I told her I could if I was given time. So she dared me to write a gothic poem on a weeping willow—we have a ginormous weeping willow in our outer garden, which holds spiritual importance for us. It’s been almost 3 years and I had been procrastinating the poem all the time. But now, I have finished the dare at last. I hope you loved it. 🌙🍃🌳🌿✨

P.P.S. This might be my longest poem-song. 🕊