”It’s Red Berry Day!” the children said to me
when I asked why. I didn’t know they would forget
the reason they avoided the holly tree
where they had buried their pet.
When I asked, “Why?” I didn’t know they would forget
how they feared the holly tree would die,
where they had buried their pet.
The fear faded as the years went by.
How they feared the holly tree would die,
its roots stabbing deep into the rabbit’s skull,
the fear faded as the years went by.
They gathered holly berries by the bucket full,
its roots stabbing deep into the rabbit’s skull,
and scattered them on our trampoline.
They gathered holly berries by the bucket full,
the dirt scoured the rabbit’s bones clean,
and scattered them on our trampoline.
The reason? They avoided the holly tree,
the dirt scoured the rabbit’s bones clean.
“It’s Red Berry Day!” the children said to me.
This is part two of a poem/story sequence that I've been putting together for Flocoimo. Read more about Floyd County Imagination Month and see what some wonderful writers and artists are doing here: Ad Hominem
Here's the first part of the story:
My Children Picked the Berries from The Hollytree Bush
They saved the rabbit from the creepy cat,
Then brought it home in hopes that I might tend
The wounds, and help it heal. Though I knew that
A promise would not change how this could end.
It was too small, so they chose a strong name
A name which would repair, a name to mend
The broken bones, and heal what would be lame.
It seemed to work at first. Leonadis,
Destined to be the King of Rabbits, fame
Of his miraculous life, his near miss
With death, would spread to all of the warrens!
Each night they sent him to sleep with a kiss,
Then said a prayer that he might hop again.
And though we loved the best we could, one day
We found him cold and still, and then— and then
