Free to flow in fountains, wells and streams,
I was not one to flaunt my naiad beauty,
and was bound to Peneus by daughterly duty.
I loved to swim and dive, I felt alive in water,
still or flowing, crystal clear as my virginity,
innocent to the onslaught of male potency.
But gods are gods and they will have their sport
with competition, war and debauchery.
Apollo’s mistake was insulting Cupid’s archery,
but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Arrow-pierced Apollo pursued me mercilessly,
and my own leaden arrow wound forced me to flee.
An ardent man is arduous to escape,
forever on my heels, he would not let me be,
Apollo chased me mercilessly
until my lack of breath forced me to stop.
Trembling and falling to my knees,
I prayed to my father, the river-god of Thessaly.
I felt a heavy numbness in my arms and legs,
my skin turned to bark, face merged with the canopy,
my feet became roots, my arms were gnarly.
But Apollo, who embraced my trunk and felt my heart still
beat below the bark, said, “You shall be my evergreen,”
and my branches caressed him lovingly.
So ends my parable of metamorphosis:
the preservation of female chastity
in the bark and leaves of a laurel tree.
Kim M. Russell, 21st April 2020
My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads NaPoWriMo Day 21 Play it Again in April 2020: Tree Mythology
I didn’t realise I’d be writing to one of my own prompts, from Sunday, April 21, 2019. It was inspired by and amazing novel, The Overstory by Richard Powers, my love of trees, and myths and legends in which people change into trees.
The challenge is to pick a tree story and write a poem about it, in the classical way as a ballad or narrative poem, or an updated version. Last time I wrote a modern version of the Maenad myth, so this time I’ve gone classical.
I’m merging this prompt with Kerry’s Skylover Wordlist, sourced from Dylan Thomas’s poetry collection Deaths and Entrances, from which the twenty-first word is ‘parables’.
writing in north norfolk 
This is such an outstanding ballad, with its meter and rhyme scheme on the myth of Daphne! Well done, Kim. Three weeks into April and you are knocking it out the ball park!
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Such high praise makes my day, Kerry, thank you so much!😊
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Woww!! I have long loved the tale of Daphne and Apollo so this poem took my breath away!💝 Especially like;
But Apollo, who embraced my trunk
and felt my heart still beat below the bark, said,
“You shall be my evergreen,”
I enjoyed revisiting your tree mythology prompt, Kim! Thank you 😍😍
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Thank you, Sanaa, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!❤
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Oh what a wonderful tale you’ve told . . . and so beautifully. The two lines about Apollo’s pursuit…simply changing the qualifier made me feel his pursuit. And I shall admit….I am not a student of mythology so was delighted to read that she became his evergreen….sad for her in some ways…gnarly limbs etc
But his evergreen….So well done, Kim!
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Thanks so much, Lill!
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I love this ballad of Daphne. The thoughts and images tell the tale so beautifully 👏🌹🙏
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Thank you very much!
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Thank you much Kim, for this nice prompt. My lady also had her husband chosen by her father. They married and “lived happily ever after.”
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Oh yes, your write was so elegant, mine doesn’t compare.
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Thank you kindly, Jim.
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I LOVE this tale, especially “You shall be my evergreen.” Just wonderful.
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Thank you, Sherry!
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You have written such a beautiful tale..”you shall be my evergreen” I love that
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Thank you, Susie!
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This is a lovely re-telling of that classic myth.
But oh dear, I realise that, in the plethora of poetry prompts this April, I’ve misread yours. My own poem is about a tree but not a myth; sorry!
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Thank you, Rosemary. There’s no need to be sorry – I love poems about trees! I’ll be over to read shortly.
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