slowly peel the skin
with your teeth.

it’s the subtle way of love
making thick out of thinness,

the slight flavouring on the tongue
the way it slides on the

soft round fruit. If correctly done
you’ll never be hungry, but if a small

amount of work finds it wrong,
a bruise here, too tart or

sour inside, see within
the cover; immediately toss it.

there’s a whole lot more
left on the vine.

Timothy Gager
Timothy Gager is the author of eight books of poetry and fiction. He lives on www.timothygager.com.