<strawberry> the juicy edible usually red fruit of any of several low-growing temperate herbs (genus Fragaria) of the rose family that is technically an enlarged pulpy receptacle bearing numerous achenes on its surface
Amidst more than six months of weeds I discovered strawberry plants have cropped up in the footholds of their deceased brothers and sisters. The new plants grow straight out of the ashes of their distant siblings making it near impossible to know where life begins and death ends.
I carefully brushed at the twisted, withered leaves freeing the few whose final grasp was weak. However, some held tight, dipping into the ground in the same exact spot where new green stalks rose. I didn’t want to hurt the new by fiddling with the old so I let those, steadfast in their death grip, stay to give those strong enough the chance to either reach and crawl or be hindered by the past. Their fate left to each to decide.
