class seven

i am eating
a peach.

pale orange blushing
spotted slightly
once round, now abstracted
into the half-consumed
half-available
perfectly
pitted
peach.

stringy innards
pulp deepening into purple hues
fuzzy skin crunches
juice
spilling over
down my stickied chin

i bought it at a roadside stand
blue skies and mountain roads
pulling over into gravel lot
for a quick treat
i saved it
for right now
and now

i am eating it.

tart
but sweet--
life.

i eat it slowly now
the last bite will be the next

(it seemed the most bitter of all.)