Fruit of a Poisoned Tree

Perhaps I am a peach turned putrid

Baked by the wrath of August

Browned and battered by bruises

Perhaps I am the fruit of a poisoned tree

Daughter of salted soil

A seed made scorned

Or perhaps I am sticky with a wild sweetness

Perhaps the scarlet that frames across my skin reflects a Santorini sunset

My skin

Tenuous to the touch

Pliable in one’s palm

Soft and soft and soft

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

The final stanza provides a welcome contrast to the first two, which are testimonies to the speaker's hard life. Stanza three is different, showing a playful, sexual side, with the last line more than a little erotic. Anything that is soft to the third degree makes the reader want to know more.