Lisa Brockwell #3 Dragonfruit vine

Dragonfruit vine

after Alice Oswald’s book of poems  Weeds and Wild Flowers

(with etchings by Jessica Greenman)

Stem canker, sure, I get that a lot.

Torrential rain, tropical sun

will do that to a man.  Covered

in the spidery etchings

of children playing in the shed;

they tattoo me with their fingernails,

dig into my robust flesh. But

the ladies don’t seem to mind

these arms, scarred and bulbous,

because my hands cup and offer

red jewels that make pomegranates

look pedestrian and taste

like a handful of ants. My fruit
is ripe velvet, waiting for a mouth.