Ars Poetica

I swallowed an apricot seed when I was younger.
Everyone told me it was hard work to grow fruit trees

especially when winter marches south and tries 
to pry all those tiny orange dots from stubborn

wooden hands. I kept it safe, though, tucked away
in the pit of my stomach where despair and embarrassment

lived. I fed it reassurances: I swallowed strawberry
sunsets and ate the pithy vernal blossoms of childhood.

I even drank the recommended 36 ozs of filtered water
every day. Years later now, its branches weave their way to my brain

alongside curious blue blood. Apricot juice seeps 
into my veins and fills my body with sweet, yellow-orange

nectar. Fruit falls out of my mouth, staining snow white pages
in splotches of nostalgia each time I sit down to write.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2023

Poem

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Rolland Avatar
March 7, 2023 at 7:02 PM
i adore your tribute to fruits and their capacity to nurture ous bodies and souls, great tribute yann
Bryan Avatar
March 7, 2023 at 7:20 PM
Thank you so much! I appreciate your comments a lot, I’m glad you enjoyed the poem!
Ermine Avatar
March 7, 2023 at 3:35 PM
Hey, Corey. I like your style, calm revelation of your personal reality. Beautifully painted to us the occurrence - especially pleasing in visual and sound combination is near end 'splotches of nostalgia '.
Bryan Avatar
March 7, 2023 at 7:21 PM
Hey Sigrid, thank you for the kind words. I love hearing what stood out to you in the poem. I appreciate the comment! : )
Slaughter Avatar
March 7, 2023 at 11:23 AM
Well, Corey, if that's not inspiration...I don't know what is. This is a most interesting...and unusual read.
Bryan Avatar
March 7, 2023 at 11:44 AM
Hey Jim! Interesting and unusual are great adjectives in my book. Thanks so much for commenting, I really appreciate it!
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