A Clean Cut

I pushed past the porch gate toward the neglected edge of the backyard fence. A stray runner from the raspberry canes had crept across the gravel border, its hooked thorns snagging dry leaves and blocking the narrow path. I knelt on the packed earth, assessing the woody stem. Taking a discarded rusty garden spade I found leaning against the post, I set its blunt edge against the base of the runner. With a steady downward stomp of my boot heel onto the tool's shoulder, the cane snapped cleanly from its root. I dragged the prickly branch aside, clearing the path.