Blackberries bulge claret, weight
the boughs down to outstretched clasp –
where they tumble in twos and threes.
Membranes bursting ink and Rosé,
sweet and sour.
On our tongues the crunch of seed and
blast of juice, coax parched lips to ecstasy.
Before winter sets in and the berries
shrink brittle, scent and juice captured
in memory and stacked high upon
the freezer shelf.
It will be autumn again –
when the winter gales whip the boglands
and the frost ices us weary.
There before us – the blackberries,
bulging claret as the last icicle melts,
and autumn’s taste is upon us once more.
——
Mari Maxwell’s work has been featured in Poetry 24, A New Ulster, Crannog, Boyne Berries, and other online and print publications in the USA, Ireland, and the UK. She was invited to read at An Evening of Poetry and Music in the Dean Crowe Theatre in July 2014. One of her poems is forthcoming in the Veils, Halos and Shackles International Poetry Journal on the Abuse and Oppression of Women.