Star Fruit

My bud has flowered and the fruit has grown ripe

Thick-skinned horned melon hanging heavy with sugar

You are walking in my woods

The woods of my ancestors which you may come to know but never feel in all their splendor

Without ears I hear the adventure in your voice, the rhythm of your feet amidst our roots, the frequent pauses of satisfied curiousity

Your presence grows as you near me

my jaunty peel blushes, a red dwarf

you lean on my trunk, surveying the forest and looking past me

But I must be in your hands!

Never have I stirred without the help of a breeze but...

Throwing every seed in your direction, two leaves did i manage to flicker

You looked up. and smiled

Deciding how best to retrieve your treasure. a pause

"Pluck Me! Pluck Me! Take me in your hands and devour me whole!"

Let me sustain you if but for a moment.

With feral grace you climbed through my boughs and shimmied further out on a limb than one ought. for me

Then i am yours and you are back on steady ground with my in your grasp

Turning me over and again with fumbling fingers

I don't think I am the fruit you are accustomed to

Each jostling puts me back in your hand and I soften more and more

Soon I am undone by your curiosity

Finished, there is only your grin and the juicy satisfaction I had been