Like This

by Foxes and Magnolias

Like you would with the fuzz on a peach

by rolling your fingers over it, your thumb-

notice it.

 

Allow your fingers to round

over where it rounds

and sink

into the spaces where depressions have been formed.

 

When encountering tender spots, treat them tenderly.

 

Notice the varied shades-

how the marigold flesh

delicately turns blush and

into crimson.

 

Then notice it this way: with your mouth-

the way it feels against your lips,

your tongue.

Slowly work circles around the pit

until eventually

that’s all that’s left of it.

 

And for a moment longer than you might think needed,

just be still.

There.

With it.

 

Languidly pull your mouth away

to keep the juice from

dripping over you.

Taste it one last time-

the ripened, sweet juice.