My friends and cousins were handled,
taken before their blushing beauty shined.
Now alone I am
Solitary on my mother tree.
At first overlooked, but time moved through the orchard,
so beauty and purity took hold of me.
Even while men grabbed those beloved so fair, I remained,
an object of hungered admiration.
After all was ravished, mother's arms were bare save me;
a pair of hands once waited
plucked me from my branch
plucked me from my branch
and with tingling sensation turned me round and round.
Over and over I was laid,
my soft velvet skin crushed and bruised
where each of his fingers stayed.
In apathy, he ravished my delicate fruit.
Like a wolf, he devoured his prey.
With never a thought of it again,
his teeth scraped to my core and tossed the pit to the ground.
Now alone I lay, a hard wrinkled shell
unwanted
covered by dirt and grass.
covered by dirt and grass.
Time again passed through the orchard
and the seasons nourished my soul.
My core began to tingle,
in anticipation it grew.
in anticipation it grew.
Looking forward to a new beginning, I stretched from my quiet sleep.
Tender roots searched the ground beneath me,
a new purchase gave me a secure anchor.
Sun and rain warmed and cleansed me; they weakened my hard shell
until at last life could no longer be restrained,
a jubilant green sprout springs from its constraint.
Steady and true my new life grew
straight to heaven, my joy was renewed.
Little did I know that the best beauty lay within.
Now I stand,
with fruit of my own giving joy in every precious bloom.
