POETRY: The Discard

Ripe and

yellow,

you crack

the stem,

peeling down

and away—

soft golden

insides

revealed.

Bite

by bite

you savor it

until,

sated,

you toss it—

carelessly,

deliberately,

behind

you.

What you

never

understood

is:

I am not—

have never

been—

a banana.