The essence of a dewberry

The essence of a dewberry                                                                               
 
She came from the cold northwest,
walking with me through the neighborhood.
 
I pointed out a dewberry bramble growing wild
along the path.  What is a dewberry? she asked.
 
Rather than a general description
or speaking in terms of genus and family,
 
I placed a ripe one in her mouth. 
She bit into it and learned immediately
 
the essence of a dewberry.
The scriptures of every religion
 
at some point are nothing more
than scraps of paper, ink-stained words;
 
old road maps we can never quite
fold back into place.  The essence of the Avatar
 
has to be tasted (shared and savored) to be known.
Descriptions, teachings, allegories,
 
parables and testimonies are as unavailing
as dewberries left unplucked in the bramble.
 
O child of God, only the Essence Itself
can give the seeker a taste of the Truth.