is a woods’ edge brimming
with ripe blackberries
hanging thick
each one a grace
a pouch of purple sheen
juiced full
with sweet blood
of wild summer
Lynda Schaller’s place is the Driftless region/Ho-chunk landscape. Here she grew up absorbing elders’ tales and free-ranging woods and fields. She has lived in the rural Gays Mills intentional community of Dancing Waters since its 1982 founding, where she tends land, beings and relationships. She writes essays and poetry.