Blue Mango
Arnulfo Kantun
I have shared one
Blue mango with its
Purple bluish palette
Mixed in with red rust
And thumbprint
Like bruise
Secret mollusks
Flesh brooding
Clotted blood hue
Shadowed indigo
For kings and queens
Shiny white linen
Dipped and tempered
By patient tired
Beaten hands
I have reaped
This sweet thing
Rescued
From its soured
Green slumber
Of forgetting
Of force-ripening
But instead
I have left
It alone
To fruition
Untouched
By the fuss of
My salt labor
Now conjured
Like a prized
Pearled egg
For you
Yellow juice
Runs down
Your chin
Sweet sticky stain
Scent of sun and
Patient draw of soil
70
TCW