print previewback STEVE SCAFIDI
The Jewel
The raspberry cane rises
Up and falls over
From the dirt
In the lap of two branches
Of a maple tree
Thirty feet above me
And the cane reaches down
Its long arm to me
Enough I may pull
The fat ruby from its pale
Green finger and pluck it
Into my mouth.
How did it happen
That the vine rooted
So high up in the tree?
How did it happen
That the berry came
Down to me
In the garden of the hotel
In Cambridge Springs
Pennsylvania
Where I am only passing
Through in delight
Of this day?
How did it happen
You ask
Looking around.
How does it happen
The thief gets away
With his life? 
The Bull Leaper’s Birthday
The Jewel