By: Grace Lee '28
We saw him for the first time that day,
Shrouded in a sea of green,
His golden locks in the sunlight, so yellow, so bright.
We watched him, the other nymphs and I,
The ends of our peplos peeping out — if he peered closely enough.
Some of us hid in our trees, others, from in between the flowers and leaves.
He would’ve seen us, if he looked closer.
He would’ve seen us, if he looked closer.
But he didn’t that day, he didn’t ever.
He strutted into the forest with a boar slung over his shoulders,
Clothes clinging to his back, his clothes, a muddy red.
We got the closest we could, crept closer each step he took.
He would’ve heard us, if he looked closer.
He would’ve seen us, if he looked closer.
But he didn’t that day, he didn’t ever.
We watched as he laid down the boar on the green summer grass,
We thought it was ours, a gift, a thanks for the earth.
When the glint of the axe shone bright high in the air, it was too late.
He would’ve seen us, if he looked closer.
He would’ve seen us, if he looked closer.
He did, he saw us, kept chopping all the same.
Each tree branch, each nymph, halved in two,
Split right down the middle, between the eyes.
The trees, the leaves, the branches, all gone, all gone.
He would’ve heard us, if he looked closer.
He would’ve heard us, if he looked closer.
That night, the rest of us crept out.
A rope of daisy-chains and twisted tree vines,
Dragged him out to the pond,
Came back the next morning.
He would’ve seen us, if he looked closer.
He would’ve seen us, if he could look closer.
But no one saw us, no one heard us.
Told everyone he’d fallen into the pond, fallen in love with himself.
Who could say otherwise?
After all, it’s not like I can say anything.
It’s not like I can say anything.
Author's Note:
This poem reimagines the classic Greek myth about Narcissus falling in love with his reflection. In the original tale, though, a nymph called Echo falls in love with Narcissus but is cursed to only repeat what others say. Here, Echo and the other nymphs here reclaim the tale — when Narcissus trespasses into their forest and begins hacking away at the trees, they plot revenge — and of course, no one expects Echo to be able to say anything.
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