Before I Go to the Supermarket

A Bio-Bibliographical Guide. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. McCarthy, Cormac. The Orchard Keeper. New York: Ecco, 1965. Norman, Gurney. Divine Right's Trip. New York: Dial, 1972. Phillips, Jayne Anne. Fast Lanes. New York: Washington Square, 1987. Settle, Mary Lee. The Killing Ground. New York: Farrar, Strouse, Giroux, 1982. Smith, Lee. Oral History. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1983. Tanner, Tony. City ofWords: American Fiction 1950-1970. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Before I Go to the Supermarket Just yesterday I went picking blackberries, came home and made a cobbler. From the hedges, elderberries spread out thin and wide, and I have a new recipe for wine. Grasses stay wild and spread their seed where no one mows. This gives me some security. And clover grows. I think of no better color combination than that described in purple tipped blossoms and green snakes. It makes me smile and want to get my hands back into weeds. But I have forgotten where the clover flower is sweet, where we bit down, and what it was we chewed. What has come to be, lies somewhere between raspberry and banana, in the sweet cream flavors of yogurt. Fruit stands languish in ripe melons and peaches, when in season. Clover? It was a weed left behind by the mow; it's stem bent over by the blades. What we put into our mouths that was so fine must lie still among ivory blue spires, stamen and pistils standing dense and conglomerateas lost as I am in this city. How many streets down? How many blocks past the clock? -Mary Ann Bamett 25 ...