Blueberry Picking

With bucket in hand
and row after row of blueberries
bowing before me
offering themselves
their round fruit so perfect
so ripe

I can't help
plucking a few from bent branches
and popping them into my mouth

surprised at the sweetness
at the warmth

It will take a long time to fill my bucket
but I don't mind
I like the feel of the leaves between my fingers
I like the way the berries fall off of the branch
and into my hand
then into my bucket
to join the ripe
blue congregation
collecting at my feet

And when I squat down to lift those bottom branches
cooing with delight at hidden clumps of fruit
now exposed
I feel ancient and maternal
gathering the fresh fruit
the sweet food

It will take a long time to fill my bucket but I don't mind Poem by Jacqueline Dooley (See the rest of our blueberry picking picture here.)