Challenging Poetry

picking strawberries

how many children
are too many to shepherd
around a strawberry patch?
I took six—eighteen,
fifteen, twelve, nine,
and twin sixes, wild
and excited to bake in the sun,
running, talking faster than
birdsong in the morning
as my hair heats and sweat runs
down my face,
giggling as we see
bright red under leaves, baskets
filling almost as fast
as mouths, so that everyone
but me are pounds heavier
as we leave to form an exhausted pile
into the car and head
home.

Prompt: April 1—Folly