I would often wander through the Tate
walking round the galleries and halls
admiring all the portraits
pictures and artwork on the walls
it was almost quite the hobby
then a painting I espied
of a proper Peeler a British Bobby
arresting is not denied
corporal punishment is implied
I admit would you believe and have to say
the stripes on his sleeve were a giveaway
but I was unfamiliar
with the artist responsible
as the vignette was neither a Sargent
and yet no more a Constable
What does a sapling need to grow?
Is water, sunlight, and soil enough,
or does it need something more?
An ungrateful sapling—
it does not grow.
At what unfortunate hour
did I choose this seed to sow?
What does this sapling need?
An adversarial being.
I wonder what kind of fruit
its ominous seed will bring.
The sapling whispered to itself,
Maybe I need love,
love that doesn’t judge,
love that does not keep score.
The whisper faded into silence.
Maybe I need freedom.
Freedom to remain fruitless or fruitful.
Freedom that feeds the soil
without binding the roots.
The leaves wilt and droop.
The stem begins to peel.
Leaves curl inward.
The sapling can no longer name
what it feels.
It yearns
for what it desires but never receives,
its stem turning brittle
for daring to want.
The sapling no longer feels
anchored to the soil.
Roots that once dreamed
of reaching far and wide
begin to coil.
i spend all my days with someone
who doesn't care about me in the slightest
and hurts my feelings in the worst ways
but i can't let go of her
nothing would ever be the same
everyone says it'd be
for the better in some ways
but that's not how i feel
if i let you go,
i'm letting part of me go
and i can't let some of me go
without all of me going
so i keep you around to keep myself
i don't even want to keep mysef
i don't think you care to keep me either
but part of me still wants to believe
you'll have the same love for me you once felt
even if it was never real
i will peel myself open and open again
so you can get a taste of my fruit inside
and spit me right back out
only to come back for more
you never liked how i tasted
you just liked watching me peel open
showing you the most vulnerable part of me
you liked peeling my pith away
all of me wasn't good enough for you
you could only accept certain parts of me
and even though i changed to please you
i'm still not good enough
so i'll stitch my peel back up
until you're ready to try me again
peel me an orange
sweet reward beneath the pith~
life's like an orange
ContestA fruity haiku
Sponsored by: Tania Kitchin
Contest Judged: June 13th, 2025 4:54:00 PM
Placement: Third
In the cool light,
I want to peel his skin back
And eat it like the meat of a grape
In the heat summer,
I’m painted, red as Cardinal
And stuffed full of Sparrow’s ecstasy
At the summit of hysteria
He holds me by the sinew
And bends it till I break
Numb on the skin’s landing -
Head had me like a dog
Trodden on the fiber of loving
I'm stuck on the wheel of pain-killing
The bite was a crunch.
So wonderful!
One's teeth could do that kind of thing.
Some later bites, performed with age,
cause pain, so awful, so dreadful!
One's bites can do that kind of thing.
But what was peel,
that part of the crunch and the munch?
Peeled off now, and thrown away.
Yet apples remain apples,
taste remains taste.
What is this thing called ever?
(12 Dec 2023)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, 2008, Mary Ann Shaffer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Letters, like potato peel pies, feed souls through wartime's occupation ~
Felt under my heel
A banana peel
I slip
Loudly now I squeal
Like a clapping seal
I flip
A mid air cartwheel
Now terror I feel
I yip!
Need to get a grip
Sweat beads off me drip
Oh boy.
I bend at the hip
My feet now I grip
No joy
I brace, bite my lip
And land from this trip
Not coy
Was this evil ploy?
A cartoon decoy?
With zeal!
A plan I employ
Litterbug, destroy!
Big deal…
Calm down from annoy
And had a Rob Roy
Surreal.
March 16, 2023
Write me a Virelai
Sponsor: Kim Rodrigues
Cletus O'Toole slipped on a 'nana peel
He broke his femur and damaged his heel
He asked a judge to rule
"You lost yer suit, O'Toole;
A higher court might consider ap'peel'!"
When life gives you lemons
You're supposed to make lemonade
However,
My lemonade always tastes too watery
So I squeeze and squeeze the lemons
I wring them out until there's nothing left
Except for the yellow peel
Taunting me with it's "happy" color
I take a sip,
And cringe
Because now,
It is too sour
music to peel grapes by
alone and drowsy
after the storm
thunder has melted
away over the bay
lights are low and soft
melancholy serenade drifts
sensuously through the room
that is when they appear
swirling about me
in their full cocktail dresses
sparkling as Christmas
a mixture of expensive perfume
wafts by I feel the air move
Jackie’s music plays with my heart.
None noticed it—good!
When I slipped on a peel pssht…
Picked up and walked on!
https://m.soundcloud.com/user-921599710/fruit-a-peel-2
Blueberries, bananas, apples that fall
Berries and pears, we love them all
Fresh rainwater, summer heat
The part of plants that we can eat
Inside the fruit, contains the seeds
Found on bushes, grown on trees
Tomato plants, of heights will rise
With soil and compost, fertilise
Seeds we scatter, seeds we sow
All around the world they grow
Celebrate at food events
Cities, countries, continents
Supermarkets, stalls be manned
Frozen, dried, fresh or canned
Varied fruits ripen with time
Fresh fruit salad, shall we dine
A complement of any meal
Fruits to blend and fruits to peel
Expectations to surpass
Blended poured into a glass
Garden fruit and fruit in tins
Daily fibre, vitamins
Large vineyards, where growers take
From tiny buds, to blossomed grape
Strawberry smoothie, raspberry jam
Tomato sandwich, cheese and ham
Assembled fruit upon the plate
Master-chef provide your rate
Written by Geraldine Taylor ©
There are some who will be politically correct
Don’t step on my toes, or voice an opinion
To find what they’re saying we cannot neglect.
To get to the core, just peel back the onion!
You must look ‘neath the surface to find the truth
‘Cos what some say is not always what they think
What kind of person did the grow from their youth
Ask how did their actions bring them to this brink?
Did they do good and serve all mankind well
Or was their past filled with promises and lies?
When they were caught did they say, “Oh what the hell”
Or from their failures did they then become wise?
Politics will make odd bedfellows it seems
So vote for the one who will follow your dreams.
The thorougher the skin peel,
the stronger the sex apeal.
Volodymyr Knyr
2014
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