Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Orchard Gifts


Apricots and plums. Apples too. The fruit trees along the driveway are full of ripening fruit. I have been expectant, waiting for the plums to deepen, the apricots to soften. I have anticipated enjoying fresh sweetness from garden trees. I know the apples will be ready in early fall, but today I ate an apricot and it was good. Yesterday I tried a plum, perhaps a day too soon, but it was very good. Passions and desires, the cravings of a pregnant woman are strange and undeniable. I need to touch the delicate peachy fuzz of the blushing apricots, and I delight in the abundance of the plum tree; its fruit is dark and hazy with a grey dust. When I glide my thumb across the skin, the fog is lifted and its plum red shines.