Original poem- Willow's Wrath
The lake was glistening with moon-milk,
Lilies floated on water-glass,
Their elegant roots a-swaying
As green and as placid as glass.
It was there where she met Mr. Tripthorne,
Sweet Annemarie, with rose-budded cheeks-
She glanced him once, and from then on,
He was all she could think of for weeks.
And when he returned to the moon-lake,
The lilies she wove in her hair-
He thought he glimpsed a nymph of old
Long-limbed, golden, and fair.
Tripthorne stood, enchanted by moonlight,
Dazzled, bewitched by this dryad,
Annemarie in turn gazed his way, flustered,
Her blue eyes rivaled those of a naiad.
He asked her, “Miss, what shall I call you?”
She replied, “Sir, my name’s Annemarie-
If you desire to meet me once more,
Come at twilight to yon willow tree.”
And so Tripthorne made her a promise,
Clasping her hand to his breast,
And dutifully, he waited til the following night,
Faithful, by love, to her request.
Indeed, she was there, framed by branches,
Lily-woven locks flowing past limber limbs,
He’d never felt his heart so impassioned,
As she smiled and beckoned to him.
After sunset, his lips brushed her cheekbone,
Under moonlight, her lips locked against his,
Under starlight, his arms clutched her waistline,
Under sunlight, she said to him this-
“Good day to you, Mr. Tripthorne,”
And turned to leave, but twas he who said,
“Annemarie, it is I who love you,
And by next week, we shall be wed.”
The following week there were church bells,
And vows and ceremony and lace,
Annemarie, all the while, apprehensive-
Only thrice before had she seen this man’s face.
At first, there was bliss, and nothing but bliss
Of the pomegranate nights they shared,
She didn’t know his first name and he didn’t know her last,
But in those days, neither one of them cared.
But alas, time would pass as it always does,
She saw him as frigid and cold,
And viewed through his eyes, she was never satisfied
By him, though he bought her jewels and gold.
Yes indeed, their union was torture,
When they dined, they had nothing to say,
Oft hadn’t they bed since right after they wed,
So it was, night by night, day by day.
She languished and sighed, and he wanted to die
Woe be upon that night at the lake!
The lilies, the lovers, the light of the moon-
Not a blessing, but a cruel curse of fate!
One day, Tripthorne went to the market,
A fair sight did his eyes behold-
Not a willow-nymph maiden, but a society lass,
Her hands adorned with rings of gold.
He knew that he should walk away,
That what he felt wasn’t right nor fair,
But fate must have brought them together, he thought,
And how enchanting was her golden hair!
He asked her, “Miss, have you been married?”
She said, “I have not, sir, why?”
With the last dying light of regret in his heart,
He smiled and said, “neither have I.”
Said he, “madam, my name is Tripthorne,”
Said she, “sir, my name’s Josephine.”
Her eyes, how they sparkled, like diamonds
Set in raiment worn by the Queen.
Josephine, in his thoughts as he walked home,
Josephine, not the old willow-tree,
Josephine, with her jewels and her golden hair,
Not a single inkling spared for Annemarie.
And so oft he returned to the market;
Their meetings transformed to a tryst,
They fled every night to the churchyard,
Their passions obscured by moon-mist.
How supple her hands were, how graceful!
How deep were her sighs, how serene!
How more precious than diamonds were the pleasures
Bestowed by the fair Josephine!
One fateful day, Annemarie told him,
“I’ve received word my mother is ill,
I’m visiting her in the country,
To relieve her of sickness and chills.”
Alas, Tripthorne was quite unaware
No truth resided in what she’d said
For Annemarie had no such mother-
The fact was, for years, she’d been dead.
So he sent her off to the country,
Where all was yet tranquil and green,
And the moment she’d left, he took out a pen,
And wrote to his dear Josephine.
“Dearest love, I declare in earnest,
That I cannot tell when we shall wed,
But let’s not lie in the gloom of the churchyard-
Let us trade it for the comforts of my bed.”
Josephine arrived soon, in a day’s time-
Rosy-red, and unshrouded by mist
Tripthorne welcomed her, heart beating madly
And greeted her with a deep kiss.
Said he, “love, you are radiant this evening,
The sun has set, and the night has begun-
How I will treasure our delight
Once you and I become one.”
Said she, “so at last, you speak of marriage!”
For tonight, I shall answer your plea-
At last, we bring an end to this lovers’ game-
As I stand before your bended knee!”
Said he, “I’ve said soon, and again I say soon-
For my darling, you must understand,
I hardly have but a cent to my name,
So I cannot yet ask for your hand.”
Josephine answered, “why, my beloved,
Your wealth does not matter to me-
Let us run far away, to some distant shore
To a small, lonely cottage on the sea.”
Yet that night, they made love on the mattress,
Awash in the light of the stars,
And yet, so sunk in their intimate bliss,
Neither noticed the door was ajar.
It was late at night when the wind whistled,
The sheets over their bodies began to billow,
From the window-frame came the dreadful scratching
Of ten thousand claw-branches of willow.
Vines snaked around the bedposts,
Roots erupted from under the floors,
The lovers watched in horrified silence,
At the creaking, opening door-
And then She was there in the doorway!
Towering, glowering, green!
Her white-flame eyes burned like scorned moonlight,
As she surveyed Tripthorne and Josephine-
“Shame on ye, the wretched unfaithful!”
Came the voice of the verdant deity-
Tripthorne paled, for he knew at once
That this could be none but sweet Annemarie!
“My darling, have pity! Forgive us!”
He, stammering and stuttering, said,
“Nay!” she commanded, “for you are dishonest,
And defile our marriage bed!”
And with that, Annemarie raised her right hand
As she piercingly wailed in the dark,
The lovers each looked on in horror
As their skin turned to cold willow-bark.
“I beg you,” Josephine cried in horror,
“Please, set your just curse aside!
For he told me that he was unmarried-
It was unknown to me you were his bride!”
“Leave this place,” Annemarie thus commanded,
“And nevermore shall you return,
Only once will I grant you my mercy;
Woe betide you if you fail to learn.”
Josephine fled the bed, out the doorway,
As Tripthorne intended pursuit-
But he found that he could not so much as stand
For his feet had become willow roots.
Screams escaped his mouth as his blood turned to sap;
It filled his throat, drowning his pleas,
But they would have mattered little, as they would have fallen deaf
On the ears of Annemarie.
His arms and his fingers extended to branches,
That twitched, then stopped moving for good,
As his wife looked on, her expression was blank
As she watched flesh turn to wood.
As for his soul, it still burned alive,
But never again would he sleep;
For in his place stood the willow-
The tree that eternally weeps.
A hundred years passed, and the house is long gone,
No one hears of Tripthorne and Annemarie,
But on moonlit nights, when the wind blows just right,
One can hear the cries of the willow tree.
And still lovers meet under its branches,
Blessed by moon and stars above,
And yet cursed to endure them forever
Is the soul of the man who scorned love.
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Original poem- Memories of a Wooded Walk
‘Twasn't long ago, I wist-
The river outstretched past the trees-
The brutal sun, the sighing breeze
And perchance, passerby would see
Within this portrait, you and I.
The years did stretch our meetings thin
But woods, rocks, and water were there all the same-
All at once, changed and unchanged
Ebbing, eroding, dying, growing, they remained
To us, a vined and mossy frame.
And so, if my memory does serve me well-
We meandered through this picture-frame,
Til the sun sank low and the sky was dark,
In velvet violet, and we conversed-
Of things we did and had not yet done,
To sail past the moon, the stars, the sun,
And voyages still not yet begun,
Dreams unrealized, unspoken til then.
Was it by meadow, glade or glen
Where we first fell to contemplation’s trance?
A marshy mire, a mirror reflected
In puddle, pool, or pond, by chance?
No matter- in any case, twas far
Far enough, at least, from concrete walls
And lifeless life, fleet-footed time
Were not of our reprieve’s domain.
But here, Chronos occupies my mind and soul,
He vies for my hand, my thoughts, my heart-
Declares he is elusive, cares not for art
As what else so deftly cheats his gaze?
His constant chimes rule the realm of man,
Ashes scattered in wake of his sweeping hands,
The tintinnabulation of his ticking tolls til each final demand.
Oh! Should we journey once more to that wooded sphere
Where we should talk, and he cannot hear!
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