Hoonah, AK

In the gravel parking lot
behind the blue Laundromat
I find raspberries, though here
in the rain arched canes are rare.

Haven’t been on land in weeks—
it seems everything could knock
me over: the top steam stack leaks
he smell of fish rot and bleach.

I find the exact wood screws
I need in the hardware store.
There’s fresh water, hot showers,
clothes warm out of the dryer,

a bar full of strangers, cell service,
an apple, and this berry patch
where feral plants have blossomed
and bear tiny ruby drupelets.

I want to eat each one. I
want to walk back to the boat,
cupping the whole harvest, leave
nothing for the rest of town.

In the sink, the berries glint
roe-colored. I see, somehow,
salmon thrashing in black nets.
Berry-pink pearls spawned on deck.

Each day someone does something
worse to another so what
does it matter if I eat
all the raspberries alone?

What could possibly happen
if I placed each in the palm
of another: one for her,
for him, for me, for you?