I
I’m a sun-blazed sphere of ochre delight.
I can be sweet or bitter, depends on the weather.
I’m great in a jiffy, excel in a jam;
my supreme segments glint and whirl like
marmalade tygers in every bite.
II
I was a bit green at first, waxing and waning
like a crescent moon on a stem of lady fingers
and praying hands that curve on steepled stalks.
Sun breaks and I bend towards the lambent light.
Braving gravity, I mellow to the middle
and yield to yellow happiness.
III
I always imagined a rosy future for myself, a crumble, a pie, a tart –
now I’m bruised, battered by the trek from tree to truck,
truck to trader, tired to the core.
I’ve made a pact with sugar: if she sweetens me, I’ll melt for her.
Together we’ll join in pastry and be remembered in crumbs.
IV
I am tender but firm, sustained by a gritty stem
till summer when I drop from the branches
like coloured confetti, gold and russet,
into the magical sound of crisp leaves.
When I’m pressed, I blush and glow like
a lightbulb and pour my plump and fragrant
pulp into a symphony of buttery delight.
V
We’re all bunched up,
clustered together
in all kinds of weather,
juicy orbs, ripe and keen
in velvet red or verdant green.
We melt at the sight of cheese
and go crazy for crackers.
Answers below
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Christa de Brún is an Irish writer and poet from the hidden heartlands of Co. Roscommon. Her poetry was shortlisted for the Anthology Poetry Prize 2020 and the Roscommon Poetry Prize at the Strokestown International Festival 2020. She was most recently published in The Ekphrastic Review, New Word Order, The Waxed Lemon and Drawn to the Light Press. She is a winner of the Artist Bursary Award 2023 and 2024.
I Orange II Banana III Apple IV Pear V Grapes
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