Wednesday Poem

No easy thing to bear, the weight of sweetness.
Song, wisdom, sadness, joy: sweetness
equals three of any of these gravities.

See a peach bend
the branch and strain the stem until
it snaps.
Hold the peach, try the weight, sweetness
and death so round and snug
in your palm.
And, so, there is
the weight of memory:

Windblown, a rain-soaked
bough shakes, showering
the man and the boy.
They shiver in delight,
and the father lifts from his son’s cheek
one green leaf
fallen like a kiss.

The good boy hugs a bag of peaches
his father has entrusted to him.
Now he follows his father
who carries a bagful in each arm.
See the look on the boy’s face
as his father moves
faster, farther ahead, while his own steps
flag, his arms grow weak as he labors
under the weight
of peaches.