The crackling green of early life
becomes the yellow jacket of pride
in perfect banana ripeness.
But soon shy specs of brown
rear their tiny heads,
grow confident,
mature into warrior spots
puffing out their chests,
charging into a softening yellow marsh,
rejoicing in their twilight advance.
Multiplying,
conquering,
until finally they join hands
and cover in a flaccid dusk
any lingering vestiges of ripeness.
First published by Academy of the Heart and Mind Jan. 2019