Easy peelers are Not the Only Fruit
Easy peelers are Not the Only Fruit
They tell you life’s too short for pith,
For skins that cling, or stones that grit,
Just tear the tab, dispose the tray,
While sunshine’s caught in neat, grey sway.
Oh, easy peeler, sweet and stark,
A vitamin hit in plastic dark –
But peel back further, see what’s true:
The world’s not just a segment you.
Go where the brambles snag and tear,
Where damsons swell in hedgerow air,
Or plump blackberries, deeply stained,
Stain fingers purple, joy unconstrained.
Feel quince’s hard, reluctant kiss,
Then stew it slow to molten bliss –
A labour? Yes. But oh, the taste!
No sterile sweetness, time nor haste.
The apple, russeted and rough,
That needs a bite to reveal enough
Of tart and honey, crisp and deep,
While cores reveal the secrets keep.
The pear that yields with gentle sigh,
A nectar dripping, thick and shy,
Demands a chin, a knife, a grace
The pre-cut cube can’t replace.
So take your clementine, your ease,
Your tidy zest, your quiet pleas –
But know the orchard, wild and free,
Holds more than just the segment’s glee.
For life’s not lived in uniform,
But in the split fig, warm and storm,
In sloe gin’s tart and woodland hue,
In quince, in medlar, old and true.
The easy peeler has its place,
A friendly, familiar face.
Yet true flavour, rich and deep,
Lies where the stubborn secrets keep –
In skin that clings, in stone, in tear,
In juice that runs, both far and near.
So savour bright the segment’s grace,
But remember: ease is not the only fruit’s embrace.
(British spelling: flavour, organisation, favourite, etc. Terminology: satsuma implied via "easy peeler" common UK term; damsons, sloe gin, medlar are traditional British fruits; "nehter" avoided for "neither" - though not used, rhythm favours British cadence.)
