BLUEBERRY

I noticed the blueberries while walking the property for the second time. I might have passed them off as scraggly shrubs had it not been for a wash of indigo painting its way through otherwise verdant clusters.

There was so much competing for my attention that day- downy clouds that I’ve now come to recognize as endemic to high summer, the narrow clapboard of a house still unfamiliar, the swaying of ochre grass, almost tidal, that seemed endless yet for the distant tree line.

Slipping a few ripe berries into my mouth, I registered all fourteen of the bushes running east to west in parallel lines. Day lilies took up space between half of the plants, not quite an after thought but not particularly planned either. Neglect was evident, though manageable. CONTINUE READING