Perspicacity
by Juleigh Howard-Hobson
Apples do not last once they are bitten
The edges ooze and soften slowly through.
Eaters wet the skin with juices, fitting
Cool flesh to warm behind them as they chew.
In defiance of ancient mysteries
Nuns don’t mind picking fruit from apple trees.
The essence of each apple has two parts:
Outer, which is of course, the first impressed
Upon the mouth, and inner, which imparts
Delights of flesh to those whose moist tongues wrest
Them from the core. Sisters, with cloistered hearts,
May only guess which portion Eve liked best.
