Earth grew it
sun kissed it
rain blessed it
and washed it.Forest sacrament
bread and body and wine and blood in one
globules of color
taut skin
shiny surfaces
collected communally
protecting the future
take it in
and be consecrated
by the sun, rain, earth, and spirit
that created this
that nourished this
and that gifted it to your lips.
On Friday, I managed to pick one small quart of wild blackberries. Our usual trusty patch didn’t survive last year’s drought apparently, but surprisingly, some new ones have materialized right by the back deck saying, “we’re here, pick meeee!” The back of our house got almost unreclaimably overgrown while we were in CA, but the silver lining is that we can literally pick some blackberries while actually just sitting on the deck. I made a cobbler last night using a slightly modified version of this recipe. It was so amazing that I was inspired to take another holy mission to collect more. (And, I successfully got one more quart, so we get another cobbler!)
“…when you look and listen to nature, something appears, something always speaks. Animism is still a valid relationship. If ‘modern man’ neither sees nor hears, the fault is with his dead sensorium…” –Monica Sjoo
WoodsPriestess 
How lovely!! When I was a girl we had wild blackberries growing along the entire length of the farmers field behind our house! I’d go there with the intention to gather them for my mother (as a surprise) but would actually eat every single one I picked! (I think I was 8). You’ve inspired me to grow some in my yard! Thank you….
You’re welcome! 🙂 This same little area has raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, and wild grapes. Obviously, the fruit patch! It is fun to see what Nature plants/plans of her own accord 🙂
We have been eyeing the blackberries that grow all along our road! There are so many juicy ripe ones right now, and tons of red fat ones to pick in the week or so to come! It looks like yuor trusty patch is closer to the house now, huh? 🙂
There are a lot of big red ones on our new trusty patch too! 🙂 There are also a lot of big, healthy looking canes that aren’t mature enough for berries this year…we’ll have to do some hard thinking about that because many of them are coming up IN the deck!