Offering

Here, take this palmful of raspberries
as my gift. It isn't much

but we've often said our needs
are simple, some quiet

time alone on the patio
in the cool morning, coffee,

a few words over the newspaper.
I've rinsed these berries

so you can tumble them
right into your cereal, one minute

on the vine, the next in your bowl,
my hand to your mouth.

Let's say my words were as simply
sweet as these berries, chosen

as carefully, plucked and held,
then delivered as perfect

morsels of meaning. Not
what you hear, which is never

what I mean to say. Will you take
these berries? Will you feel their weight

on your tongue, taste their tang
as they slide into you, small, bright, honest:

the only gift I have to give?

~ Albert Garcia