Oh, Nectarine!
You with your soft skin, the perfume-out-of-the-bottle gone wild,
spewing sweet fizz all over my arms
it drips like neutered honey, viscous
and deliriously free for the taking.
My 27 Jennifers, my discount coupon for Sweet Freedom
while summer squeezes You like some wild lover who can’t wait
to get You home.
Oh, Papaya!
with Caribbean rubbed all over your tough exterior, your varied
pairings,
the possibilities limitless, your oils in my bath water,
how the exotic name rolls over my lips, across my tongue
making me wet with tremor, pureed in cold smoothies,
sold from stainless steel beachfront carts, frozen on a wooden
stick.
I mount you in my kitchen next to lemons and limes, your Bourgois
cousins,
as common as a Jamaican dollar bill, as colorful
as the plumage on the undercarriage of an island parrot.
Oh, Coconut!
with your hard stringy shell, whose stands are woven into sandals,
kissing the hot noon sands on the way to turquoise waters,
the pina coladas, the luxurious cakes, snapper encrusted filets
that crunch once bitten on a plate of rice, your sweet milk
basting each fluffy grain, the delicate soaps and candles
they make with your guts.
