BOP: LOVE AS STONEY FRUIT

Written by Jasmeen Kaur

Illustrated by Barbra Daly

"Even so, I’ll still dream of you tonight."

The mango tree blooms

Red nacres, gilded peridots that hang

Thick for the plucking, only to

Die sweetly on the vine. Love is a seed!

Who frantically attempts to manifest body

And being, but recoils stillborn and swollen.

Even so, I’ll still

Dream of you tonight.

Wearied peaches bruise

Hopelessly for ripening, so I held a

Burial for our blooming (and expectedly,

You did not attend). The roses darken

As they lay dying on the here-lies-the-

Memory-of-you and in the distance, a

Nectarine sunset is lovingly looked upon and then

Forgotten, never to be tasted again.

Even so, I’ll still

Dream of you tonight.

Stones of plums, apricots, and other fruits

You don’t eat resurrect you out of the

Grave you were never buried in. I graze

The lychee seed with my teeth, rejoice in it’s sweet

Flesh. A Spring tongue dreams to taste the fruit of

Forgiveness, but Autumn blushes, only a moment away.

Even so, I’ll still

Dream of you tonight.