Strawberry River

Two young lovers stranded in the middle of nowhere;

Nowhere is beautiful.

Truck broken down, they call a mechanic

and explore the land with no mountains.

Miss and Missus dive into an alive forest

Growing green bugs and blue leaves

“Don’t go too far,” Missus cries

to Miss, who hears a crackling creek

And sweeps a bush to find a hidden

River of fat and small, dimpled and ripe

no-stemmed strawberries

Flowing from beginning to far-end.

Miss drops to her knees and

captures a bright red rushing strawberry to her

mouth

Missus cries - poison!

No, Miss groans, parting river with teeth

sinking into lush flesh again and again.

Missus, unable, forces her tongue into Miss’ mouth

and bites into a juicy,

Explosive berry.

The lovers’ skin turns pink. Miss cries

and their bodies

Dip like the bit at the top,

Fit like freckled and sticky ridges,

Juice staining, leaking sweetly,

Later, the pink fades,

One drags the other away, to the road;

Their truck gone, the day gone, their clothes flying away

Miss and Missus ran back to Strawberry River,

the horizon zion,

Current rush, eternal river fruit.