®

Today's poem is by Alison Stine

When I Taught Mary to Eat Avocado

                      She didn't understand.

You couldn't cut straight through with the big knife
             because of the pit, or heart, or stone.

                      We gave it many names,

and when it was revealed, bone-shade,
             heavy-bottomed, she wanted to keep it.

                      She washed it, and the skin

dried and crackled, lost shards. I taught her to salt
             the pebbled rim, and dig with the tip

                      of a spoon, which is like a knife.

The flesh curl surprises, but it's a taste you'll miss.
             When she stole the story I told then,

                      how the Aztecs locked up virgins

during the avocado harvest, how this was repeated
             to others in her own language,

                      I knew we were bound to take

what we could from each other and go.
             I didn't tell her what the name

                      for avocado meant, its connection

to the male body, which she wanted no part of,
             which I am now a part of.

                      Perhaps that is the end

of the story, his flesh in my mouth. Perhaps
              the women were not locked up,

                      but went, willing.



Copyright © 2002 Alison Stine All rights reserved
from The Kenyon Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission

Support Verse Daily

    Please support Verse Daily's very generous sponsors:
Sponsor Verse Daily!

Home    Archives   Web Monthly Features    About Verse Daily   FAQs  Contact Verse Daily   Publications Noted & Received  

Copyright © 2002 Verse Daily All Rights Reserved




[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] recent extreme sports florida department of corrections free hentai clips gnarls barkley mp3 good sex medicaid movieshark.com my tam mp3 richards-realm.com rick ross hustlin robots china eastern airlines shower girls thong babes wikipedia.org 14 year old ashlee simpson invisible ask jeeves.com bad credit mortgage ohio http: bad credit mortgage remortgage http: bad credit mortgage second http: bad credit mortgages http: bad credit rating http: boys naked brick current hack password to adultfriendfinder drumline fuse tv getting a mortgage with bad http: las vegas coupons lender for bad credit http: mortgage financing for bad http: mortgage for bad credit http: mortgage loan with bad credit http: mortgages bad credit http: mortgages with bad credit http: naked females poor credit mortgage loans http: robots cheap international flight sterling silver jewelry stupid girls pink usc wizard www.dansmovies.com avalon blackbarbara.com downloads.com electric guitars erotic hypnosis female circumcision hilarious videos holland hysterectomy kyra sedgwick medical terminology melatonin patricia arquette pimp c prodigy mp3 school reunion