Pear
All fruits are not created equal.
In September the pear tree produces
an army of hard pellets tasting
of twine, of whining,
tasting of the word but.What animal sprayed
its body’s bitter water
across this bark year after year?
Who knelt here to bury
amulets forbidding flavor?Other pears require company
to produce fruit,
but this tree bargained
with the local devil:
Permit me to self-fertilize
and I shall forevermore
yield the inedible.