.
Alan
Shefsky
Selections
from "Plums/Poems"
At Night
.
Plum Poem Home
At Night
And then there is only you and your plum
it's the middle of the night
you can't sleep
something in you aches
and the plum, in a bowl
the only one,
ripe, unwashed
you are not hungry
but you are hungry
and there is this plum
you can't sleep though you are tired
something in you
is hungry
and the plum in the bowl
in the single light
that shines above it
the plum is dark red
there is something in you aching
you consider the plum
it is the middle of the night
and silent
and the darkness hides all else
you find yourself faced
with this plum
confronted by this plum
it is now a very large plum
that stands before you
a very large and heavy plum
and in your mouth
(for you have not yet
taken even one bite)
the very word plum
repeats itself over and over
until you can feel, you can hear
every letter, every sound
until the plum seems
to shout at you
but no, it is you shouting
standing as you are
in the kitchen
in the darkness
broken by the one light
shining overhead
and there again
in the shining white bowl
the plum (and it is a dark plum)
a plum that will not so easily
be eaten
though finally, and simply
you eat it
you very simply eat the plum
you take the plum from the bowl and eat it.
