The Dancing Trees

By Terry Lowenstein

Long before man and woman
walked the earth.
The trees walked about.
They danced.
They danced as gracefully
as the finest ballerina.
The sound of the wind
was their music.
It was a symphony unlike
any other.

In time fairies and elves
appeared.
They joined the dance.
And from the wind
learned music.
Reeds that grew by streams
became their instruments.
When they played
all of nature danced.

Such was the world in the beginning.
Home to gnomes, elves, fairies, and trolls.
Dragons, sorcerers, and the like.
The world of magic.
The world of druids.

It was the place our
fairy tales and myths began.
For what we read now in books
existed then.
It was the world before man.

With the birth of mankind
things changed.
As the human race
began to spread
it encroached on boundaries
set aside long ago.

In time the trees grew afraid
of mankind.
They no longer danced freely.

Now it was only in isolated corners
hidden and inhabited by
the wee folk
that the dancing continued.
Here the trees were joined by
not just elves and fairies,
but by the unicorn.

But in the areas inhabited by man
the trees danced only
by the light of the full moon
while mankind slept.

But with each new infant born,
mankind spread out more
and areas hidden became less
and less.
Now there are but a handful
of islands of magic that remain.

Thus the trees dance only
when mankind sleeps.
Then ever so quietly
they slip their roots
out of the ground.
And stretch.

Then in open meadows
they dance.
Joined by fairies,elves,
and gnomes,
Then there is an echo
of music from long ago.

It is said too
that on All Hollows Eve
sorcerers fly in
on dragons' backs
to join in the merriment.

But, when the first streaks
of sunrise are seen.
All hurry to their
homes.

But sometimes a tree
is so caught up
in dancing
that it is not until
it hears the call
of birds welcoming
the dawn,
that it realizes the time.

Thus it hurries
and in its haste
leaves for those
who look
for signs
of such things.
A sign.

There in the sidewalk
cracks.
Cracks caused by trees
hurrying back from the dance.

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