The interrupted fall
Of each broad leaf
Is an event on the sun-deck
Where the skin drinks in the gel.
x
The season’s a sort of dry autumn.
It’s the heat that knocks off the leaves
Big as faces, warped,
And weathered brown.
x
The evergreen bushes
Store what the dew provides
In rind protecting bitter, sweet
Or peppery insides.
x
Jackfruit and tamarind
Compete against the lime.
The mango gets tested
By jade-breasted, jet-black tits.
x
Elsewhere everything is husks,
Shells of former selves:
A few dark pods
Clinging to the tree-tops.
x
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxChiang Rai, February, 2023
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