March 09th, 2025

This poem was inspired by a Frida Kahlo painting called "The Bride Frightened at Seeing Life Open".  


FROM THE GARDEN
 
My love brings me fruit from the garden
Luscious and sweet
Chin-dripping wetness
He brings me pineapples, plantains and potatoes
To feed me, to feed us.
He tells me he loves me and wants to marry me, to become one.
I will feed you red fruits and yellow fruits.
I will smash the coconut for you, and you will drink the milk from it.
The birds will envy us as they gaze down from their perch in the coconut trees.
The grasshopper will not come near
 
I peek out from my safe place of unweddedness.
No, I whisper
I will feed myself.