Spreading Gooseberry (Ribes Divaricatum)
by Grace Li
Like Catholic schoolgirls in pink skirts, lifted
to show their half-slips
white stockings tight around skinny
skin-ny legs, with green buds for shoes
for green girls.
In summer heat they swell, bulb into dark,
fat berries, their legs fill with new flesh
and womanly muscle. Their dark skin taut
so taut, you can hear them
Begging. Begging.