Virginia Strawberry – M. Stone
(Fragaria virginiana)
Medicinal use: refrigerant; cools down the body
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I wash wild strawberries at the sink,
their juice pink as my shoulders and cheeks
too much sun from a day at the creek
too much laughter, too many illicit sips of beer
I was the one sick behind a hickory tree,
the boys joking as I retched, but Sharon
held my hair and told them all to fuck off,
the swear easy on her lips
something guttural/territorial about it
makes me flush, adding heat to my burn
Mama enters the kitchen and
tsk tsks
at my skin while I roll a ripe berry
over my tongue, imagining
the taste of Sharon’s mouth