A Poem by Michael Ray Perkins

Gooseberry Pie

 

the green kind

grew by

my great grandmother’s shed

the one that was falling down

almost

 

her  modest yard of tawny bushes

was yearly the subject

of much joy and

anticipation

 

and we would go over

me with my grandfather

to view them

when they came on

after his mother called

to spread the tidings 

 

lots of sugar

was required

to make the comfort food

of those most tart berries

so sour you spit them out raw otherwise

I think they made

just a pie or two

 

but here we are

still talking about them

still talking of them

all these years gone by

even though I

never found

a taste for gooseberry pie

I savor the memory

 

 

 

Michael Ray Perkins was born in Harrisburg, Missouri, in 1956, the son and grandson of country people.  Both sides of his family have lived in Missouri for more than 150 years - longer than it has been a state.  He worked on a ranch before serving as an Army medic and then a Navy corpsman with the Marines.  He studied history and political science and earned an MSW in social work.  He lives in mid-Missouri with his wife and the youngest two of his four children.