Cross Roads

THE RIVER AND THE TREE

     "You are white and tall and swaying," sang the river
        to the tree,
     "And your leaves are touched with silver—but you
        never smile on me;
     For your branches murmur love songs to the sun-
        kissed turquoise sky,
     And you seem so far above me that I always hurry
        by!"

     "You are laughing in your shallows, you are somber
        in your deeps,
     And below your shining surface there's a heart that
        never sleeps;
     But all day you pass me, dancing, and at evening
        time you dream,
     And I didn't think you liked me," sang the birch-
        tree to the stream.

     So they got a bit acquainted on a glowing summer
        day,
     And they found they liked each other (which is often
        times the way);
     And the river got so friendly, and it ran so very slow,
     That the birch-tree shone reflected in the water down
        below!