Blackberry
Winter
Judith
Anderson
They
call it blackberry winter—
Coming,
as it does most years
With
clusters of pristine white blooms
On
arching canes—the sky clears,
Clouds
swept aside by Arctic wind
Designed
to carry blighting frost.
Spring’s
progress toward Summer’s gift
Falters,
fails, flees. So much is lost
Of
unfolding leaf, tender bud,
Vulnerable
seedlings turned black.
Capricious
blackberry winter
Whistling
through the ruin, turns back.
***
Judith
Anderson lives on 20 acres at the end of a dead end road in
St. Clair County. She recently obtained her first Confederate
Rose plant and points with pride when it blooms, but as much as
she loves flowers, she is more famous as a "seed undertaker"
than gardener. She is more successful as a grandmother and wife
and mother, and to fill out her life, she works with her husband
in a nonprofit organization.
©
Judith Anderson