Embraced

While wandering about on the indigenous fringes of my property, I found Romeo and Juliet.

A quick synopsis of their tragedy: two young lovers from feuding families fall into a secret, desperate romance. Knowing they would not be allowed to embrace in life, they instead embrace in death.

In my local scrubland version of this tale, Romeo is a juniper and Juliet is a rock. Romeo died some years ago and was upended by the elements, exposing his tangle of roots. And this is where you find our Juliet, a smooth-sided rock Romeo gathered gently into his roots when he was young. Even all these years after death, Romeo still holds Juliet close.

I’m sharing a photograph of my Romeo and Juliet.

The Embrace

—Mitchell Hegman