As the calendar rolls into the tenth month of the year, the trees in our backyard are just beginning to turn golden and orange.

And so, I went looking for a poem from Mom.

She wrote this in 1950, early in her junior year at St. Joseph College in Hartford.

Ever-Green

Follow me, Sunberry,
Mine is the root
That steps into oceans
With one white foot.

I hold a moonstone:
A boon for the child
Who sings in the jungle
And never grows wild.

Here is the silver
That runs in the grass;
Hold out your fingers
Where morning may pass.

Wind out your magic
To flow on the sun,
Something there’s in me
Will never be done.

Follow me, Sunberry,
Over the moon.
Some things are never –
And others, too soon.

~ Joan Cassidy ~ 17 September 1950

When I read this poem, I pictured Sunberry to be the name of a magical horse.

Of course, it’s also the name of an heirloom shrub:

I wondered if my parents ever added sunberries – also called wonderberries – to our landscaping. Upon further reading, that would be doubtful, as the berries are quite toxic before they ripen. Once they ripen, they are apparently edible but mild.

Here is our poet, in her parents’ backyard in New Haven, Connecticut.

Some things are never – and others, too soon.

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“Ever-Green” ©1950 Joan Cassidy. All rights reserved.

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