"In Thrace the natives show their visitors
Two trees so close together that their branches
Seem to grow upward from a single trunk."

- Ovid's Metamorphoses

Happy World Poetry Day.

I wrote what is below before I read the story, but the story of Baucis and Philemon is one of my favorites from Ovid, and I didn't realize until today how well these fit together (at least in my mind).

How far down does your love go
earthed in the
rich soil of your soul that turns
and breathes
takes root even in the tips
of your fingers
Grounding you in a place
there is no ground
but skin
under gentle palms
His rough cheek against the flower of yours
The leaves that brush against
both lips
and arms that wind as branches do
in the most ancient
of embraces.
This –
is this what it is
to touch another's soul and find
it is your own?

by Autumn Toennis - Jan 2013


Trees. Always trees, and the timeless love they symbolize for me.