Forbidden Fruit

Apr 04, 2008 - 17:50 PM PST

Forbidden Fruit


Translucent shades silently
shadow the adolescent girl,
the soft folds of her thin white dress
billow around her frail frame
as she kneels next to a tall bush
covered in crimson fruit.

She pushes cascades of chestnut
curls out of her eyes to survey
the gray garden.

Unaware of her onlooker,
she grasps a single piece of fruit,
pulling it from the leafy branch.

Peeling back the rind,
she reveals the treasure hidden inside,
dozens of ruby seeds.

Taking one,
she presses the fruit against her lips,
savoring the sweet juice
as it crawls across her tongue,
breaking her sworn fast.

Ascalaphus, the only witness
to her simple enjoyment, watches
silently as she hungrily consumes
six seeds.

As the sound
of wing’d sandals wafts through the air,
the pomegranate
falls
from her lily-white hand.