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Ophelia
There is a willow that grows aslant a brook…
-Shakespeare, Hamlet
When the old willow weeps,
her shoulders bend to the sun,
her ancient songs resound
in tune with us
Her light binds us to her limbs
Her learning and duty, her strength
to stand firm as we battle
Her skirt, a shelter to our fallen
In her tears, no regrets
Our grief and despair seek solace
in this humble Sallow
We bow to her
in gratitude.
This poem appeared in Rough-Cut Elegies. It received a 2025 Pushcart nomination.
© Barbara Harris Leonhard
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| Barbara Harris Leonhard |
Barbara Harris Leonhard is the author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (2022) and The Lost Book of Zeroth (2025). She is the co-author of Too Much Fun to Be Legal (2024) and Broken Rengay: Unruly Poetry (2025). She’s a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee. Trending Poets named her Poet of the Year in 2023 and 2024. Her poetry has been translated into Italian, Albanian, and Chinese. She is the Editor for MasticadoresUSA and FEED THE HOLY. Her blog is Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver.
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