Legend

He begged her to stay.
But she was too proud.

He reached out for her.
But she was having none of it.

He tried to follow her
but became rooted to the spot.

Not that she was getting very far.
The same thing was happening to her.

It’s said they’re cursed.
The gods (for there were gods in those times)

looked down upon them
and punished them for their failures.

Some say they should have tried harder
to make it work.

He should have been more persuasive.
She should have been less proud,

dancing off too easily, as she did,
in her ballerina pose.

Granted, he should have dallied less
with the slender saplings

but, then again, in those days
she was supposed to turn a blind eye.

But the gods were not happy
and that’s that.

They turned them into trees,
and those around them,

as a warning
to us all.