shrinking
imperceptively
the skin
of the fruit
not tasted

he gave me a plump rosy fruit from a tree in his garden here he said the seeds are juicy and delicious and the fruit will keep long into winter

I thought then of Persephone and dared not open the fruit how long will you wait to open it someone asked not this I won’t open but another one also a gift I did open enjoyed chamber after chamber of glossy crimson succulent seeds

his pomegranate I kept until Christmas and now in January it is still in the center of the table next to three candles and a stoneware vase filled with heather picked when looking for mushrooms

found
and dried
mushrooms
kept in
a glass jar