The Dance of the Trees

by Alex Edwards

In the moonlight the trees, they dance
In the darkness, they flail and prance,
They are careless and they are free
But only at night, where no one can see.
For they are shy and worried we'll panic
Thinking that movement of trees is manic.

But the truth is, trees love to leap,
In the moonlight, they don't rest for sleep.
A beautiful ballet, they pirouette and curtsy
Such a sight, so pretty and earthly.

But there are some species who hate the sight
They would rather put up a fight!
They call themselves Bushes, and they do not groove,
They barely breathe, let alone move.
The trees' dancing is hideous they claim
Ugly and boring, nasty and plain
For the Bushes seem evil, wicked and vain.

Truth is, really they are just jealous
For dancing they're completely zealous
They want to samba all night long
They want to cha cha to a Latin song.
They'd love to rhumba in high-heeled shoes
Serious or funny dances, they want to amuse.
But, unfortunately in this united dream
In which the Bushes are unbearably keen,
All Bushes grow with two left feet
So, their dancing is clumsy next to trees; so elite.

The shrubs hatched an evil scheme
So clever and genius, their leafy faces beamed.
They had an alliance with a creeper named Ivy
Who had luscious leaves and a heart, cold and icy.
She too despised all the trees' prancing
And so agreed to end all their dancing.

After the meeting at sunrise, first light
The trees slept still; no sense of coming fright
Ivy crept slowly like a treacherous snake
Over to the trees, yet they didn't wake.
She edged up their bark, like the creeper she's named
Revelling in evil, completely unashamed.
No-one could stop her, even if they tried
The trees were already completely tied
The bushes felt a tinge of guilt
But they ignored it "Go Ivy, full tilt!"

Yet, they were not expecting one thing
For a tree to wake at Ivy's coiling.
Her name was Willow; she was so small
Ivy hardly noticed her at all.
She was flexible and made to twine
So leant over to wake the next tree, Pine.
Pine woke, and as quick as a flash
She hurriedly woke her neighbour, Ash
Willow knew she had to get untangled
Otherwise, they'd soon be strangled.

Calmly, she hatched a marvellous plan
With which she would save every tree lady and man.
Bendy she was, so started to sway
She set up a rhythm, and in it she'd stay
She started to dance, with all her might
She was nimble and she was light.
She brushed against pine's bark, so rough,

Ivy's vines were not nearly as tough.
They flew off, like broken chains,
Ivy cried out in the worst of pains
Pine, freed Ash, his shackles were gone
And so, this dancing release carried on.
The trees still dance all night long
And a lucky few can hear their enchanting song.