Tree and Fruit

Rubbery stillborn shrub

Rubbery stillborn shrub

Tendrils of home in a thrawn, hollow hub 

Dreams of clinging fingers of sand

Fertile smooth shells

Far from this frigid barren land 

Recalling the feel of strands of green 

Pliable and open, baring soul and core 

This ground bears nothing, a child’s closed fist

That inky black cold

Stagnant moist mold 

I feel summer spill across my pillow

The kisses of gods to an altar

Tart pigeon plums to velvet the mouth 

Home weeps forth, the tender willow

Woven braids like mine, a common root 

To press and tear a bleeding wound,

yearning for a poinciana to bloom

from my forlorn, acrid misery

A fuzzy heat lines inside me 

Torn from her briny womb

miscarried to a foreign tomb

Left and dropped 

from mother’s marred branch,

Perhaps by my own doing

My oil, my flame, my poison

From my own mouth

Which now laments 

And oh dear God

I crave her now

Her green, her blue, her gold

I crave her fruit

Her bursting saccharine 

Oh Dear God 

I crave 

I crave 

I crave 

Madison Adderley is a Bahamian-born writer who’s always seen crafting as a must, her hands and a pen articulating in ways her mouth sometimes fails. She draws inspiration from Sylvia Plath’s poetry and Douglas Stuart’s tender blue prose. She has also submitted her work-Lavender Blood- to the BitterSweet pages digital magazine. The short story that won her first place in the University of The Bahamas’ tenth annual English in the Park competition, dedicated to exposure and opportunities for  Bahamian high school students.

Image Source: Nassau East Blvd by Eddie Minnis