A Gift

by Maria Wheeler

You plucked it from
A barren peach tree
And offered it to me some sort
Of bruised and oozing, thoughtless joke-
You centered it plump on a cotton placemat.
Its fuzzy, orange brilliance paled
The autumn warning
Of crisp grey leaves
And waning sunlight,
Of life and time-
so swollen, so soft and dewy
It mocked my womb
and warmed my heart.

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Maria Wheeler has been teaching English for thirteen years. She has an MA in writing and is working on an MFA in professional and creative writing. Maria lives in New Jersey with her husband, a musician. Someday she hopes to finish her memoirs on that peaceful, little farm.