*This December, I am reblogging some of the more popular poems and articles that I have posted in the course of the past year. Here is another one.*

Mangoes Growing

The green buds in the tree start to swell in the grey rain

straining towards the ground—

sperm writ large.

They cluster together desperately on a stalk till all but one

fall unappetizingly onto flagstones and are swept away by brooms.

The lucky fruit grows fleshy and orange

and, when it drops,

is scoffed up by a scavenger,

leaving a stone to grow.