Napo 5

This evening, the prompt was to write about an heirloom seed. I chose the Sleeping Beauty Cantaloupe. 

Sleeping Beauty

These globes of sweetness

Nestle together as they ripen

in neat rows in West Texas.

Imagine spending all season,

A lifetime, hanging on the vine,

Cheek to cheek, rind to rind,

Basking in the glory of the sun.

How can such sweetness grow

Against this landscape of ruggedness,

Against the jagged mountains,

The unforgiving heat, this land

Of thorns, ticks, and snakes?

It’s her tough skin, her rind

That keeps the moisture

The sugar, the ginger flesh

Tucked away as she slumbers.

Do you imagine she’s dreaming

of the moment she’ll be plucked,

the kiss of the knife, the slicing open

at the meridian, the sweet sucking

of juices, the roll of a tongue

across the honeyed fruit, the teeth,

the slow slide down the throat,

the devouring, the moan.

Don’t be fooled. As she slumbers

There in her naked glory, pregnant

With seeds, she dreams of sweet rain,

The moist earth around her roots,

The kisskadees beak carrying pieces

of her into the blushing, burning sky,

the next generation of sugar and plenty for all.