Pomegranate
2012 National Finalist
Pomegranate
Your ruby jewels
Stain like drops of blood
Waiting to burst on the tip of my tongue
The taste buds of sweetness
Your rough crimson rind
Your bitter flesh
Not for taste but as protection
A waxy shell for preservation
Your sweet and sour pulp
Lets me travel to a blazing plateau in Iran
Or to a mild summer in the Himalayas
Your blissful juices quench my undying thirst
Punica granatum
From the words of God
Of yarn and golden bells
Along the hem of Aaron’s robe
For divine things among men
Of blue, of purple, of scarlet
The seeded apple
The emblem of fruitfulness
Skylar Sang, age 13
Honolulu, Hawaii
Punahou School
Teacher: Joe Tsujimoto