Penny Blackburn
Windfall Love
There were miles of sterile plastic polytunnels.
Neatly labelled, well-ordered crops inside, waiting
for organised workers who spoke
with accented politeness in the village shops.
After, we passed through the muddy yard
and on the track we saw the wild fruit fallen,
bright bruises on the tarmac. We debated
what they were, decided damsons –
too small for plums. Usually too sharp
to eat raw, but these were sun-soaked
in the heatwave and flooded us with sweetness.
We glutted. We could not stop.
Once plucked, some showed their secret shame.
Eaten away by birds, or insect-ravaged inside.
We abandoned them, snatched higher and higher
for others. The last – split by your stained thumb,
spilt out two perfect, golden halves. I rolled mine
in my mouth from teeth to tongue, tasted the coming
of the end of summer. Felt myself swelling, skin
stretched taut like over-ripened fruit.
In the pit of my gut, the buzz of guilt.
Like a cascade of wasps, honey-taunted,
uncontainable.
Neatly labelled, well-ordered crops inside, waiting
for organised workers who spoke
with accented politeness in the village shops.
After, we passed through the muddy yard
and on the track we saw the wild fruit fallen,
bright bruises on the tarmac. We debated
what they were, decided damsons –
too small for plums. Usually too sharp
to eat raw, but these were sun-soaked
in the heatwave and flooded us with sweetness.
We glutted. We could not stop.
Once plucked, some showed their secret shame.
Eaten away by birds, or insect-ravaged inside.
We abandoned them, snatched higher and higher
for others. The last – split by your stained thumb,
spilt out two perfect, golden halves. I rolled mine
in my mouth from teeth to tongue, tasted the coming
of the end of summer. Felt myself swelling, skin
stretched taut like over-ripened fruit.
In the pit of my gut, the buzz of guilt.
Like a cascade of wasps, honey-taunted,
uncontainable.
Biography
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Penny Blackburn (she/her) lives in North East England but is originally from Yorkshire. Her poetry has been published by, among others, Poetry Society News, Lighthouse, Dreamcatcher, and Riggwelter. Penny was recently awarded second place in the Ver Poetry Competition 2022 and was also commended in the Waltham Forest and Positive Images Festival competitions. She is co-host of Cullerpoets poetry stanza and host of Under the Arches spoken word evening. Penny is on Twitter and Facebook as @penbee8.
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