Pomegranate

Drunk pink pomegranate—
ripe, you fit in my palm like a small
bald monkey’s angry head.
Under my knife, your skull opens.

I dig my way in and eat what I find
in the bone caverns
of the monkey’s ancient jungle.
I fill my mouth

with small blood jewels—
the sweet-sour burst of brainsap,
then spit out the seeds and wait
to evolve backwards.

Tina Blade lives in Duvall, WA, east of Seattle in the Snoqualmie River Valley where she is an avid birder. She received her MFA from University of Oregon. Her work has appeared in The Moth, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Calyx, Mid-American Review, Menacing Hedge, and elsewhere. She is currently working on her chapbook, Broken Blue Egg.

 “Pomegranate” was originally published in California Quarterly.