Sisters

We skip verses we don't know,
Humming the melody as infill.
Anything to avoid hanging 
Like a noose from weeping willows.
That twisting testimony- 
You lie,
You camouflage,
I provoke
When backed into this bloodied corner,
Inescapable DNA
Demanding a picket fence,
Pressed dresses
And the ache of stones swallowed to keep quiet.
We carry legacies,
Secrets,
Cementing alliances so long as the tree stands.
I see the willow banded,
Leaves wither
And Time peck through skin.
Perhaps there is no need to hum
Now that the earth is dry,
Roots unhinged for lack of life.
Perhaps this is what it means 
To grow beyond the song
We once sang 
To stay alive.