Sharing Our Stories & Poetry Friday: Writing Fast about An Abundance of Berries

"Just write. Fast." But what do I write about? Elsie mentioned that there might be a poem hiding in the pics I posted from a walk this week. And here's the fast version of that poem. Thanks, Ruth, for this invitation to write fast.

An Abundance of Berries

 Red berries call to me as I drive down the hill

and I know that I'll be back,

phone in hand to capture 

the berries strutting their stuff.

A careful trek up the hill reveals

tiny white flowers beside a remnant 

of weekend snow promising that spring is coming. 

Bountiful red berries sparkle against

waxy green leaves and patches of snow.

Velvety green ferns wave 

from drab tree trunks and a dreary winter landscape.

And blue sky peeks through cottony clouds

and the sun shines down upon us.

I take a deep breath and inhale gladness.

- Ramona Behnke 

I have debated over whether to include this paragraph of prose that I wrote before composing my poem. But in the interest of sharing my complete process, here it is:

On Tuesday, I noticed an abundance of red berries on a bush as I drove down the hill on an infrequent outing, this time to physical therapy.  I made note that I wanted to walk there and snap some pics of those berries. And so I did. Enough of the snow had melted that it was possible to walk mostly on wet pavement. I walked very carefully when I had to tread on snowy patches, no need to extend my current PT sessions! But when I got there, I was rewarded. And on the way up the hill, there were tiny white flowers blooming beside the snow and then the green ferns on the tree trunk, and blue sky peeking through the clouds and gladness for this world filled my heart.

 

To savor the magic of story, link your post at Sharing Our Stories.

Head over to There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town

 for this week's roundup of poetic goodness.
Thanks, Ruth, for hosting this week.