Peaches Had Fuzz?

Intending to sleep away the afternoon after hurried errands,

Recalling there were no bananas for my Graveyard lunch,

I passed the crowded department store, too tired for lines,

Turning, instead, to the neighborhood produce market.

Opening the car door at the market’s entry I was

Instantly met by the warm fresh scents of an orchard.

A long, deep inhale lead me down a heavenly trail

Of melons, plums, pears and apples gathered in bins.

But it was the “three day growth” on plump, unshaven

Peaches that took me back to a time of wondrous

Childhood harvests, with flies tightly wrapped in

Spider’s webs and worms peaking from apple bottoms.

Home now, gently handling my sweet treasures, I thought of

All those times I'd shopped at the large grocery stores,

With their scentless peaches, smooth as babies’ bottoms.

Then I called my friend and asked: “Do you remember when…”

Naida Lavon

Oct. 13, 2009