Trampled Blackberries

Seasons of Mists

More fruit! On retreat last week, I smiled when I found that a poem I wrote at CSMV Wantage in 2022 is still pinned up in their art space. There’s a story behind this: inspired by a conversation with a fellow creative at Greenbelt Festival that same year; to do with trying out different colour natural dyes. (Claire, correct me if I’m wrong here!).

I smiled even more in church this morning over a mention of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s words: “Earth’s crammed with heaven.” Even if I’m partial to a spot of blackberry plucking myself, I hope that my ‘Trampled Blackberries,’ captures just a grace of that marvellously creative glory of God:

Trampled Blackberries

Ours ripened early,

alongside the advent of pristine notebooks

and back-to-school hopes of early September.

Bursting with goodness;

random, roadside surprises, maverick growth;

stretching the boundaries of neighbourly approval,

along with our wildflower lawn and cheeky dandelions.

I seized the moment;

gathered them in their perfection

(Sorry, Elizabeth Barrett Browning!)

before a host of God’s tiny creatures sucked them dry.

Those immaculate pages 

soon became smeared with misspellings, grubby rubbings-out

and a liberal lashing of the dreaded RED PEN!

But those days are gone.

In our ripening years we hope, (pray even)

that the harvest of our trampled fruit 

reveals new patterns, possibilities beyond the page;

and that those heady juices of creativity will:

stain our fingers,

refresh our minds 

and intoxicate our souls 

with their star-burst palette

of glorious colours;

each of us Wisdom’s masterpiece,

painted and forever framed in Love.

   – CSMV Wantage , 19.10.22