Narcissus Married Echo

by Anna Halberstadt

…after all
he did nor enjoy his friends,
especially nymphs,
avoiding him
after the spurned lover
had a nervous breakdown
and lost her voice.
They married, but Echo
did not regain it.
Narcissus began studying
philosophy with Plato
and he had a brief dalliance
with Sappho,
who praised his poem
about admiring his own
gorgeous reflection
in the stream
and being moved
to tears.
Echo was hiding in the kitchen
and the bedroom
decorating the house
with fresh white hyacinths
and crimson roses.
At lavish dinners she made sure
Narcissus was undisturbed
presidingand entertaining their
sophisticated guests
with witty conversations.
She got up to overlook
the dinner preparation
and all she was able to say
was a repetition
of her husband’s last words:
“It is so deep, so deep…eep…eep”
or,
“You can find this in Plato’s Dialogues…logues…logues”