Poems in April: Tree Mythology

Welcome to the Poems in April Challenge for Sunday 21^st March 2019 with Kim from Writing in North Norfolk.

I have been reading The Overstory by Richard Powers, an amazing novel of intricately woven roots and branches: tree stories that bring together a group of strangers, each summoned in different ways by trees to save a few remaining acres of virgin forest.

Daphne and Apollo - found on Wikipedia

As a lover of trees – they are my favourite plant of all – I have been mesmerised by this novel and it has inspired my prompt for today, which is based on myths and legends, stories in which people change into trees, such as Daphne, who becomes a bay laurel before Apollo can catch her; the Maenads who murdered Orpheus and have to watch their own toes turn into roots and their legs into trunks; Cyparissus, transformed into a cypress tree by Apollo; Myrrha, who is changed into a myrtle after creeping into her father’s bed; and Baucis and Philemon who spend centuries together as oak and linden as a reward for taking in strangers who are actually gods. There are too many tree myths and legends to list them all here.

The challenge is to pick a tree story, from the list above or any other you know and love, and write a poem about it. You can write it in the classical way as a ballad or narrative poem, or you can update it, riff with it or play around with the idea in any form of your choice. You can even make up your own story about a human who is changed into a tree.

Here are a few links to help you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trees_in_mythology

http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Tr-Wa/Trees-in-Mythology.html

http://spiritoftrees.org/featured-folktales

https://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythology-folklore/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_and_Daphne

Baucis and Philemon by Arthur Racham - image found on Pinterest

I also found this wonderful poem by Katherine Gallagher, 'The Year of the Tree':
https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/gallagher-katherine/the-year-of-the-tree-0646003

Using your knotty tree finger, join in by clicking on Mister Linky and filling in your name and url – not forgetting to tick the small ‘data’ box. And please remember to read and comment on other toads’ poems – let’s see if we can create a living forest of mythological poems!