Poem of the Week

curated by Meg Day, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke & Niki Herd

Brought to you mid-week, every week, as a little something something to help get you over the hump.

 

May 20, 2015 / Mangoes in Early Fall

Shauna Osborn

 

Mangoes in Early Fall

There's no civilized way to eat some fruits–-

just savage sucking & ripping of flesh, 

the large white seed in the center 

waiting to be exposed. Bite into it 

like an apple or a peach–such sweetness 

drips down the throat, blonde fibers 

much like corn silk & just as uneatable. 

This exotic tropical fruit–only seen in 

romantic comedies located in some

exotic place–never grown amongst

the pear trees & grape vines. & when 

the large white seed with remaining amber 

mohair is put on the plate with the 

toughened shaved skin (read rind)

that couldn't be chewed, the poem is done 

gone, left in the space of time that can only 

be broken with teeth marks through inviting 

red/green flesh

 


This poem first appeared in Cultural Weekly culturalweekly.com.

 

 

 


      

Curator's notes

Allison Adelle Hedge Coke:

This bit of tantalizing beauty brings full flavored poetic process into the tactile challenge of devouring whole fresh fruit. Nothing good comes easy, you might say, and yet, every bit of it is nourishing and brings some sense of relative sensory element worth the taking. Fulfilling and gorgeous.

 

Shauna Osborn Comanche/German mestiza who works as an artist, wordsmith, and community organizer. She has received a National Poetry Award from the New York Public Library, the Luminaire Award for Best Poetry from Alternating Current Press, the Native Writer Award from Taos Summer Writers’ Conference, she is the current Room of Her Own Visual Artist in Residence, Studio Hour Leader, Consultant, and Waves Discussion Series Contributor. Her poem, "Mangoes in Early Fall," was a Cultural Weekly contest winner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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