Apple
Inside
the apple’s green and glazed skin
something is taking place
hunched in darkness, an ache
for a rebirth of wonder.
The five unmistakable marks
little brown seeds
give birth to a single idea—
delicious rottenness.
The star-apple kingdom
lies waiting inside it to be born.
Cento Sources: Linda Hogan, Saul Touster, Robert Duncan, Alice B. Fogel, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lewis Carroll, Anonymous, Jorie Graham, D. H. Lawrence, Derek Walcott, Li-Young Lee
Plum
A bite into a ripe Mariposa,
her blue bodice split at the bulging seams,
explodes like a hot stone
in my mouth.
Just one seed
the pit
widow’s eye
in my two hands.
Cento Sources: Charles Atkinson, Paisley Rekdal, Louise Erdrich, Mymai Yuan, Jill Bialosky, John Fuller, Lenelle Moise, Carolyn Forché
Patrice Boyer Claeys is the author of two poetry collections: The Machinery of Grace (2020) and Lovely Daughter of the Shattering (2019). Recent work appears or is forthcoming in *82 Review, little somethings press, Relief, Zone 3, Glassworks Magazine, Inflectionist Review, Pirene’s Fountain and Aeolian Harp Anthology 5. She was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and twice for Best of the Net. Patrice lives in Chicago and can be found online at www.patriceboyerclaeys.com.
