Strawberry Season Back Home in Vermont,
Viewed by a Guy Who Now Lives in California

After a long winter and a wet spring
when sunshine was scarce enough for concern,
the first strawberries of summer are here
to be enjoyed during a brief season.

A friend shared a photo of them online:
plump, sumptuous, red as rubies
but more precious due to the way they nourish
those who waited through months of dreary weather.

Their profusion in California - 
huge fields along the coast by Watsonville,
sold in grocery stores almost the whole year -

seems outlandish to someone from Vermont
and makes me forget how sweet this fruit can taste
	when it is only on hand a short while.