peaches/apricots

Imagine a puddle of peaches on a countertop. The blushing warmth of skin. Their roundness. A heat that is the colour of my heart, and a vision that makes my heart ache...

Pick one up. The weight and heft registering against palm. The gentleness of fingers not wishing to bruise. The stroke of a thumb against velveteen...

Lift to your nose and close your eyes. A fragrance of lightness that vanishes if inhaled too deeply. A vision of tiny white flowers that evaporate in a rainbow’s end whenever you get too close...

A sudden bite, and an explosion of sweetness. The ache of blushing colour now turned juicy. Inner flesh that melts under the tongue. The swallow...

The end is dripping stickiness, and a ragged pip that’s hard as rock...

(plant it, and another tree will grow...)

Friday September 3, 1999

This drawing was inspired by a bunch of apricots I had bought at the grocery store. The colours were amazing, and I wanted to capture some of that gorgeousness in a picture. I used watercolour to rough in the shapes of the apricots, and then finished with coloured-pencil cross-hatching and shading. The poem was written as a gift to a friend who liked poetry.