He'd like to come back as a willow tree
For my sister and me to sit in his shade
He says, it will be enough for him to have lived
All his years for that day
I don't know if I could live as a tree, yes-
I'd like my body to be a home to birds and yes-
I'd be content to change colors each year in the fall but
I'd worry if I were a tree
Since trees can never run away, they stay
Bound by the very source that gives them life.
At least they always know where they came from.
I've been searching for roots, not mine
But the world's, for fruits that don't grow
On shelves in the store and for more shades of blue
Than exist in all five oceans
Did life really begin like my grandfather says
With Adam and Eve
And a snake and a tree? I wonder
If the apple she ate was Macintosh or Granny Smith
And if all the forces of the universe really came together
To bring us where we are today
I think if it were up to me I'd come back as the wind
Strong and free-spirited, nothing to hold me back
I'd travel the world searching for roots and
Everything else
I could find along the way
