Open Thread: Temptation

Hosted by an apple tree



"I have been a stranger in a strange land"

It wasn't bliss. What was bliss 
but the ordinary life? She'd spend hours 
in patter, moving through whole days 
touching, sniffing, tasting . . . exquisite 
housekeeping in a charmed world. 
And yet there was always 

more of the same, all that happiness, 
the aimless Being There. 
So she wandered for a while, bush to arbor, 
lingered to look through a pond's restive mirror. 
He was off cataloging the universe, probably, 
pretending he could organize 
what was clearly someone else's chaos. 

That's when she found the tree, 
the dark, crabbed branches 
bearing up such speechless bounty, 
she knew without being told 
this was forbidden. It wasn't 
a question of ownership— 
who could lay claim to 
such maddening perfection? 

And there was no voice in her head, 
no whispered intelligence lurking 
in the leaves—just an ache that grew 
until she knew she'd already lost everything 
except desire, the red heft of it 
warming her outstretched palm. 
  - Rita Dove

Friday Recommendations!  What have you been reading/writing/listening to/playing/watching lately?  Shamelessly self-promote or boost the signal on something you think we should know about - the weekend’s coming up, give us something new to explore!

And, like on all threads: please remember to use the "post new comment" feature rather than the "reply" feature, even when directly replying to someone else!
 ~ Kristycat

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