STEALING A PEACH

Seated underneath the peach tree, 

I am about to partake of a piece of fruit 

so new it doesn’t even have a name yet. 

One crunch of teeth 

and its juice explodes in my jaw.

 My tongue laps at its sweetness

like a dog’s. 

I savor so much  

before my throat has at it. 

Then I look up  

at the branch that birthed it, 

a mother proud at how 

her child served the purpose  

for which it was intended. 

No pickers.  

No baggers. 

No trucks. 

No grocery stores. 

No customers 

No checkouts. 

No refrigerators. 

Those she has no time for. 

But she welcomes the thief.

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in New World Writing, North Dakota Quarterly and Tenth Muse. Latest books, ”Between Two Fires”, “Covert” and  “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon. Work upcoming in Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Birmingham Arts Journal, La Presa and Shot Glass Journal.