Himalayan Blackberries

Imported from the east —
a New York trading house,
if I recall correctly —
several decades ago,
Himalayan blackberries
are now inseparable
from the landscape here.

In areas open to sky
everywhere: in clearings
along Padden Creek,
in a huge impenetrable tangle
along the banks of a slow
meander of lower creek
just east of the estuary.

The heavy snow of that late
surprise snowfall
(was it only last month?)
weighed down brambles.
Brambles remain prostrate
but indestructible.

It’s an invasive species,
true. A prediction:
soon enough the blackberries
will be everywhere.
Birds and walkers and pickers
won’t be able to resist
the bounty of blackberries,
will feast and carry
Himalayan blackberries
farther and further.
Another prediction:
purple blackberry-stained
beaks, hands and mouths.

~*~

Andrew Shattuck McBride
NaPoWriMo 2014 ~ Day 21