Eros as Apple-Grower
Apples left hanging overlong on the tree
Get greasy: brightness subsides to a dull luster,
Flesh accepts the imprint of the thumb.
Better to pick your apples maybe a week
Before full ripeness. Lift breast-gently, twist
Gently. Again. If they resist, come back.
The best don't give themselves, they must be taken –
But must be taken with a tender hand.
– Charles W. Pratt
© 2008
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Revised 3/27/2008