I often wonder why you weep, willow tree,

Why a creature of nature shows such misery.

Could it be that the cause of your sorrow and pain

Is that your thirsts are not quenched by the acidic rain?

Are your branches afraid of the threatening grey sky?

Are the manmade pollutants the reason you cry?

Do you violently sway in the harsh winds that blow?

Perhaps that's the reason your branches hang low?

Do you weep for the humans who breathe unclean air?

Are there more people who waste and less people who care?

Do you cry for the victims of poverty and crime?

Or the hole in the atmosphere, growing with time?

I long for the day when your crying will cease,

And the humans and Earth will both be at peace.

When this pain you'll no longer be forced to endure,

And your roots will be cleansed by a water that's pure.

When your branches reach upward to a sky that is blue,

And the air will be clean in which birds can soar through,

When the wind will become a calm, soothing breeze,

And man won't be burdened with poverty and disease.

I look forward to a time when pollutants disappear,

And the healing of the hole in our Earth's atmosphere.

When from the ground your weeping branches will lift,

And people will realize that Earth is a gift.

And if they search deep enough, it is not hard to find,

That the willow tree weeps because of mankind.

And if we overcome the carelessness shown by all men,

The willow tree will never be called "weeping" again.