by Rachel Cope
How hard could it be to grow a strawberry?
The vast fields in Watsonville grow thousands of them,
but this gardener, broken in spirits, wants just one.
A single strawberry without any dents or discoloration,
no mold or mildew filling the center;
no puncture holes from hungry bugs;
no more infestations of pesky green aphids,
And no more broken stems.
All she’s asking for is one plump, red strawberry-
something to boost her broken ego-
something to show her that everything she touches does not always die-
something to reassure this tired gardener that she is not a failure-
just one strawberry.
