Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Ripe

     Photo Grocery from Tess Kincaid

At the corner store                          
are piled apples, oranges, potatoes 
and onions enough
to make you cry 
with the cutting of them,
 but that just takes one.
And shoppers touch the fruits
and the vegetables -
I won’t even mention
 the ogling of melons,
or the squeezing of tomatoes;
that is too much
firm fruit for this page.
But there is this concentration
of life, of juices, of vegetable matter,
some of it is still ripening;
and though we cling to life like a peach,
out back, the dumpster
is full of molding pears and cabbages.
My dead grandmother used to say
when you are old
your skin gets rotten like a banana.
We are all
ripening and rotting,
every fruit and vegetable and shopper
reaching for a peach,
every person walking past,
too busy to stop
but not able
to rush, or race-walk, or outrun
their own mortality.
And in the end, we all end.
And it is sad, if the life, or the fruit, or the vegetable
was good at all.
But, despite the dumpster full 
of endings,
the store front 
still draws us in.
We want the fresh fruit,
the sweet bite,
the juices running down our chins.
So savor it,
beginning, middle, end.



This is for Magpie Tales writing group hosted by the talented Tess Kincaid.  Come join us!


22 comments:

  1. Gosh Mary - - - that was so powerful.
    Hope we last a bit longer than an orange or a tomato.
    So you see the store as an analogy of life - what a great idea!!!.
    Very clever, well thought out and delivered.
    . . . and I feel like a banana right now (to eat - not to be wrinkled lol)

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  2. Thanks Eddie! I was a bit longwinded about it, but got there in the end. Enjoy your snack!

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  3. Well! This is quite the recipe for living! I loved every word.

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  4. A beautiful and wise write Mary...I love it!!

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  5. I'm rotting? Crap, better get some air fresheners lol

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  6. What a variation on life's a bowl of cherries...

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  7. Oh i like the Entropy and Thanatos here , but there is also Eros ...cheers Mary

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  8. What's life, and death, without a little Eros? Thanks Kutamun - cheers!

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  9. "(I won’t even mention
    the ogling of melons,
    or the squeezing of tomatoes;
    that is too much
    firm fruit for this page)"

    What a lovely bite for the senses.

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  10. Wow Mary, a lot of deep thought going on.
    "My dead grandmother used to say
    when you are old
    your skin gets rotten like a banana."
    A good analogy, as elderly bruise dark bruises so easily.
    I think I will stay with the fresh fruit in the front of the store for awhile longer...

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    Replies
    1. It was actually my great grandma who said that when she was quite old.
      And I"m with you, I hope to stay out of the dumpster for as long as possible! lol

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  11. Lovely poem, I like the vivid imagery.

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  12. Hiya Mary, such a warm pleasure to be back here - its like a warm glow... Love your organic theme and the lyrical conversational flow to this piece, which is evocative and successfully realised. Altogether a lovely addition to my weekend... With Love & Light Scott www.scotthastie.com

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Scott! Your comment was trapped awating moderation and I didn't see it until just now...so very late. I appreciate your kind words and hope that autumn is a productive season for you.

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