I Remember by Kim Klugh (ONE GOOD MEMORY Series)

I Remember
by Kim Klugh

When you arrived in California
you wrote to tell me
about the apricot tree
in your backyard
Do you remember?

That first summer I came to visit
we plucked the sun-ripened fruit
from the tree’s loaded limbs;
my thumb followed the fruit’s crease line
where the knife split in half
the soft sphere with a single slice
to reveal an almond-shaped stone

We bit through the supple skin
and swallowed the fruit’s
warm meaty flesh
drawing its juicy nectar
back into our throats.

Having our fill
we piled the excess
into a deep sky-blue day bowl
On days you are most missed
I still can taste that day’s summer sweetness
upon my tongue
I can still feel the warmth of the sun
upon my face.

PHOTO: Apricot Tree by Elena Schweitzer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kim Klugh is an English/ writing tutor. Her poetry has been published on Verse-Virtual, Frogpond, Global Poemic, Wales Haiku Journal, The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Poetry Pea, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, drifting sands haibun, and Failed Haiku. Several of her poems have appeared as samples in three craft books edited by Diane Lockward.