POETRY POALL TIME

[kleenexwoman]

"Millions of Strawberries," by Genevieve Taggard

Marcia and I went over the curve,
Eating our way down
Jewels of strawberries we didn't deserve,
Eating our way down
Till our hands were sticky, and our lips painted
And over us the hot day fainted,
An we saw snakes,
And got scratched,
And a lust overcame us for the red unmatched
Small buds of berries,
Till we lay down--
Eating our way down--
And rolled in the berries like two little dogs,
Rolled
In the late gold.
And gnats hummed,
And it was cold,
And home we went, home without a berry,
Painted red and brown,
Eating our way down.

[Poll #1206652]

Comments

[elendraug.livejournal.com]

It seems like you can take it either way -- if you want it to be about actual strawberries, it can be. If you want it to be about sex, it can be that, too. Since you can interpret it on multiple levels, I would say it's child-appropriate enough.

It actually makes me want to be in a field during summer at sundown. I don't like strawberries, so the imagery there isn't enticing sexually or hungrily (?) to me, but the notion of nightfall during summer is something I'm now craving.