HERE IS THE WANT

of fruit
out of season,

thump ripe
winter melon,
frost berries,
cold objects.

I am waiting for you
small purple plum
transform my heart,
which is now a fist
shaped fig,
split and bruised

into a tree
plump and weighty
full
a hand held
in an upturned hand.

Even in the city,
it seems that others
walk in orchards
while I pull leaves
from aching bows

bite on bitter
greens, hold my tongue
 
hope now
for the ripening
that will come.





("Here is the want" was originally published as “The Seed”  in the January 2008 edition of Harper Palate.