Tuesday 27 May 2014

Poem - Learning to Waiting to Learn



Learning to Waiting to Learn

All those bad relationships
were just unripe peaches
eaten too soon

hard and dry
where they should be
soft and juicy

yet we get seduced
by the how sweet it could be
missing altogether the how
sweet it is
or isn’t

My friend says the difference
between a restaurant
and cooking at home
is that you have to eat
your mistakes at home

No one bites into a not perfect peach
and tosses it. We don’t waste like that.
We do waste, but not like that.

They’ll keep biting and biting
hoping for that one perfect bite
down to the pit. The hard thing
in the middle that offers nothing
unless placed in fertile soil.

We are creatures of optimism
even the pessimists
as we are creatures of evolution
even the creationists

We will keep going and going
thinking it will get better. It will.
Toss the peach. Let it decay
compost the soil. Let the pit split emit
seeds of sweet juicy futures
for generations marveling at a peach tree
on the sidewalk of a Brooklyn street
wondering where did that come from

then wait
as long as it takes
for the ripe one

in the meantime
there are other things to eat
kale and collards
books and songs

wait for the right one
you can know it by its scent
the velour of its touch

when it comes
be gentle
it is soft, sweet
and contains an
elixir you won’t want to spill

not even a drop.


c. 2014
e. amato


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