Monday, September 18, 2006

Chokecherry Picking Time

Chokecherry Picking Time.

My cousins pick wild
Chokecherries. Baskets full of the ripe ones
The others are left to mature on the bush
.
Finishing the harvest, they return
While my aunt boils water and sterilizes
Jars on her old wood stove

We had to pick em quick
Before those critters came, she tells me.
She’s right. When the first frost comes

Black bears lumber down the mountain
Seeking succulent jams and jellies
To spread on pancake dreams.

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