Gemels

Trees can pair

Trees can pair,
I read this online today,
they open small mouths
and press them against each other,
press branches or roots
even their bodies,
and they grow together like that.
Gemels they're called,
it’s Latin. There are Gemels
in our forest, an ancient couple
who attribute their long lives
to the salmon that spawn
in a small stream 
encircling their root nests
and to the Western screech-owl
that live in their branches.
The red cedar is stoic leaning
indulgently towards the hemlock
who twirls and jitters
in the Squamish winds.
I tried to interview them one night
when the moon was full
and my hands full of leash
my path full of dog
Trees, I whispered
What's your secret?
The wind picked up 
and something dark left the top 
branches, needles and small twigs
swirled around us. My dog
pulled us away
towards the highway
the lights of the corner store
the yards and gardens of our neighbourhood.
Looking back I could see the Gemels
moving together silhouetted
against a northern night sky.