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APRICOTS
by Larry D. Thomas

A few blocks off the plaza,
in the Santa Fe evening light
the color of brandy,
on the street below the branches

of the tree, they glowed in rosy,
yellow hues as if a god
had ripped the sundown, rolled it
into fuzzy, dimpled balls,

and flung them to the ground.
Fast as we could, deep
into the fabric of our shorts,
we crammed them till our pockets

sagged, and lumbered down
the darkening street
like lumpy angels, holy
with the light of apricots.

From Larry D. Thomas: New and Selected Poems (TCU Press, 2008)

“Apricots” will appear in the Silver Birch Press SUMMER ANTHOLOGY, a collection of poetry, prose poems, short stories, novel excerpts, memoirs, and essays by over 70 established, up-and-coming, and classic writers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa — available by June 21, 2013.

Photo: “Apricot tree at sunset” by Rik Neethling