Eugenia Berries

There are some people
Who believe
Eugenia berries
Are poisonous,
But I assure you,
They are quite delectable.
I practically lived off them
When I was a kid.
I knew every berry bush
In the neighborhood
And foraged them regularly.
My Aunt Dofeen
Made jam and pies
Out of the berries,
And sometimes
Eugenia berry bread,
But I preferred them raw,
Straight off the tree.
Those bushes
And their cousins,
The Eugenia berry trees,
Thrive along the coast
Of Southern California,
Especially in areas
Subject to fog.
In Point Loma,
Where we lived,
There was enough fog
To nurture
Even the most
Reticent berry bush.
Eugenia berry bushes
Are extremely popular
Because they make
Excellent fence rows
And property dividers
Between close set homes
For neighbors
Who don’t want
To see each other.
The Eugenia berry
Trees and shrubs
Are exceptionally hardy,
Drought resistant
Evergreens.
The bushes take well
To being manhandled,
Cropped, trimmed
And squared,
Or carved
Into the shape
Of animals
And other
Incongruent things,
But the best berries
Seem to grow
Where the plants
Aren’t regularly
Bushwhacked.
It seems the berries
Get bigger
As the bushes
Grow older,
But I have never
Figured out why
One bush will be
Well endowed
With juicy ripe berries,
When the next one down
Might have
Almost none at all.
Nature has a way
Of differentiating things
That way,
But then again,
Only naturalists
Or berry predators
Like me
Would likely notice
Such a thing.