Pear, Apple, Plum
 
‘We are hungry,’ said the mothers, ‘tell us more,’
and glared down at the husk of me that lay
on scratchy blankets on the orchard floor.
I resisted, but I could not look away
 
as blossom ringed their crabby fingertips.
‘We are hungry,’ said the mothers, ‘tell us more.’
Transfixed by bloom, I cracked apart my lips;
I talked, then watched their wilting petals pour.
 
The mothers flexed. Above each naked claw
a bulge of fruit; a blind homunculus.
‘We are hungry,’ said the mothers, ‘tell us more.’
The world shrunk down to just the four of us,
 
I told them everything, and in exchange
they threw their cherub babies to the floor,
then turned as red as Gaia could arrange.
‘We are hungry,’ said the mothers, ‘tell us more.’
 
Nina Parmenter
 
If you have any thoughts on this poem, Nina Parmenter would be pleased to hear them.