In the warm lands where I live,
fruit is golden-fleshed
(whether or not yellow-skinned):
slick paw-paws veering to orange;
pale, almost-white bananas;
lush mangoes pulsing with juice.…
In cooler climes, the stone fruits
and the berries – some of both –
present us with red: rich, definite,
wrapping their surfaces (nectarines,
cherries...) or red all through
(raspberries, loganberries...).
Strangely, when I bite into
a dark-skinned, red-fleshed plum,
or crush a raspberry
softly with my tongue
to explode against my palate,
it doesn’t feel like eating heat.
It feels like delicious coolness, like
a drink that is better than a drink.
I savour that sensation all the way down
my back and my front, from throat to toes.
The soles of my feet curl up
as my heart opens, expands.
On the other hand, gorging
the sun-gold fruit of the tropics
is indeed like tasting warmth:
slurping, savouring, swallowing
slices of the sun. All are paradisial;
I’ll only say – they’re prettier, the red.
Written for Sanaa's Weekly Scribblings #8: Red Fruit Rendition at Poets and Storytellers United.
Image: free clip art.
My goodness this poem is too delicious for words, Rosemary!😍😍 I am experiencing a burst of flavour in my mouth just by visualizing; "crush a raspberry softly with my tongue." No doubt the red are prettier! Thank you so much for sharing this gem of a poem!💝🍒
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Sanaa, for providing such an inspirational prompt!
DeleteWe really are so lucky in Oz to have an abundance of fruit most of the year. I loved the way your poem was so delicious in itself to make my mouth water!
ReplyDeleteSweet blood plums ...squelch yum...!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of red being cool and not hot. As well as the juxtaposition of making the exotic fruits mundane and the red fruits exciting. Frozen raspberries are a delicious was to cool down a drink. I'm thinking about a lovely sangria now.
ReplyDeleteHa, now you've got me thinking of that as well!
DeleteA veritable treat for the tastebuds! (...and paradisial was a new word for me, though with obvious meaning).
ReplyDeleteWhat a feast for the senses your poem is!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing poem!! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty, Rosemary. I liked the involvement of the senses and of their associated organs. Especially, "crush a raspberry
ReplyDeletesoftly with my tongue..." I caught myself trying to imitate this.
..
I love the contrasts of climes and fruits in the first two stanzas, Rosemary, and the use of colour, so evocative. My favourite lines are the ones in which you describe biting into fruit that ‘doesn’t feel like eating heat. / It feels like delicious coolness’ and makes ‘The soles of my feet curl up / as my heart opens, expands.’
ReplyDeleteA treat for the sense, this one. A yummy poem.
ReplyDeleteThis felt delightful on the tongue to read aloud too. I love the way you played with the words and created a teasing and inviting feel. I would like a bowl of raspberries and a nectarine now, thank you very much.
ReplyDelete"pale, almost-white bananas;
ReplyDeletelush mangoes pulsing with juice"
Yum.
Love this:
"it doesn’t feel like eating heat.
... I savour that sensation all the way down
my back and my front, from throat to toes.
The soles of my feet curl up
as my heart opens, expands."
We in the Caribbean are also blessed with the year long food of the gods. The paw paws, mangoes, plums, oranges, grapefruits. West Indian Cherries. Yes and the slurping and savouring is divine
ReplyDeleteMuch❤love
Wow! Those two last stanzas were exquisitely drawn. I have the taste of fruit
ReplyDeletein my mouth.