round and ruby red
speckled and freckled just so
as a child we grew strawberries tucked
behind the jalapeños and roma tomatoes
near the pale pink peony bush
blooms large as the moon
in an early june gloom
brother and i would toddle
out only to find our precious
berry harvest plucked by birds
of the air, swallowed were the seeds
and sweet fruit whole
sating their bellies deep, those wings
gone with the wind before
i could cry accusatory tears
next year, mom simply put up nets