raspberries

I went out with little girl Janet, each of us clutching a bowl and sandal-shod, and scrambled over to the two families and stood and ducked and clambered to pick raspberries. The last time I saw raspberries, they were three suggestive red blossoms atop an alcoholic cocktail – a seductive fruit, the fruit of lust – sweet but sharp. The raspberries’ rich purple-red was the hue of the roses I was given – so raspberries also recall love, romance. Funny now, how children – quite literally the fruits of love – harvest these other fruits of love. The symbolism comes full circle.

origami rose

A keepsake: the white, folded paper
petals that curl into a rose
your fingers curl around it
as you pass it to me,
this creased imperfect
origami
symbol of
our love.