(for Geneva, whom I've never met, but know all too well)

rotting from the core while appearing like a juicy, ripe pear:
maggots retreating inwards towards your densely-tarnished pit
strangers swiftly approaching, waiting eerily and eagerly to dig into you—
you almost hope they do so they’d learn how bitter you are
and stop calling you sweet.

it’s your turn to make an appearance at the supermarket today—
you exhale glumly at the thought of imminent passersby drifting mindlessly past you
in search of novel items to fill their bellies to the brim with,
not knowing the first thing about a brand of hollowness that could not be filled with a snack.

you ruminate on the 1% that care to look past a markedly deteriorating exterior
periodically lifting the inorganic plum and questioning what’s inside of it before taking a bite.
the other 99% gnash obliviously on produce pesticides and your increasingly more pressing lack of serotonin
you’re not sure what’s worse.

SALE. aisle 4. you’re up.

you hastily try to wipe the mud off of your skin, ever so dented, bruised and blemished
lifelessly falling off your branch once more and sinking into the soil like quicksand.

moisture accumulates at your crux like dew on a rose as you hear the uttered echo of your ten least favourite farrago of letters: a r e y o u o k a y

a palm for which you are seemingly too large tries to lift you and you fall over and play dead,
you grab onto your nectarine stem. this is who you are now.
you feel like the last peach on the plantation
but here’s the thing: you are merely a seed

barely sprouted at all

an expiration date years upon years away.

you muse and marvel at the thought of throwing yourself in with the compost
but you don’t even know if you’re a pear or a peach yet.
either way, i hope you’ll wait and see how succulent you’ll become
with enough warmth and watering,
and allow time to decay you as it should

so that the hearts of your similarly, slowly decomposing audience
may rest for a while.

besides, maybe Monsanto will someday soon find the perfect panacea to prick and prod you with
to balance all your chemicals
and make you whole again.