Bread and Cherries

Is there anyone who doesn’t love cherries? That as a kid hasn’t hung cherries over their ears? Or on a warm day, sat munching through a bowl of the fruit? Cherries hold a duality I think – somehow managing to be simple yet exotic, the best of both worlds. Searching for a poem on cherries I found this by English poet and writer Walter de la Mare. Apparently he was a writer who returned to themes of childhood constantly in his work. Perhaps that’s why this little poem, like the cherry itself, is both simple, and yet evokes rich imagery, and a bunch of questions.

Bread and Cherries

‘Cherries, ripe cherries!’

    The old woman cried,

In her snowy white apron,

    And basket beside;

And the little boys came,

    Eyes shining, cheeks red,

To buy a bag of cherries,

To eat with their bread.

-Walter de la Mare (poem in the public domain)