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Open Poetry #34
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Greenwell Farms
| Open Poetry #34 |
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Greenwell Farms |
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Corinne Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167state of confusion 
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Greenwell Farms We arrive late morning. By luck, it is harvest season. We wait atop a hill for our guide, while admiring six-foot tall poinsettias and banana and papaya trees heavy with fruit. To the west, a cobalt Pacific holds our eyes. Cumulous build, promising afternoon showers. We are led to a grove of well-pruned bushes bursting with ripening red drupes. We hide beneath the leafy branches like cattle shading their hides from SunRa. We each pick one red berry, then squeeze the outer membrane until it pops. Inside, most contain two halves of a whole, although it’s possible to find a single pea. On cue, we taste slippery coatings of sugar, pink tongues extended in unison. A cruel trick: berries ripen individually. It might take weeks to pluck a single branch clean. We move downhill to a cluster of horizontal metal planes affixed to terraces. Burlap bags filled to the brim lean against rusted corrugated walls. An open washing machine swishes away skins then spills the beans onto a wooden plane for drying. At night and when it rains, mobile tin roofs are rolled out. Soon the crop will be at its peak. Workers will be flown in from Costa Rica; the locals having long since abandoned long hours of sweating in the sun for $1.10 a pound. Most of the beans will be shipped green. The largest fetch the highest price. Runts and peaberries meet their end in a blend or become chocolate-covered novelties. Our tour ends. We pour paper cups of different varieties; a new appreciation of the four buck cup. |
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| © Copyright 2004 Corinne - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Ummmmm....this smells good! |
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passing shadows Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577displaced |
nice! |
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BluesSerenade Member Patricius
since 2001-10-23
Posts 10549By the Seaside |
We each pick one red berry, then squeeze the outer membrane until it pops. Inside, most contain two halves of a whole, although it’s possible to find a single pea. On cue, we taste slippery coatings of sugar, Your poetry is so alive, and ever so versatile, Corinne. Best wishes to you at Christmas and in the New Year. |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
I want some! *S* A beautiful write... you involve more than the sense of sight... I found myself breathing deep... inhaling the aroma. *S* |
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Dark Angel Member Patricius
since 1999-08-04
Posts 10095 |
Such vivid imagery you pen Corinne, without fail. Most enjoyable. I'm sending to my libray. Mxx  into this night i wonder, it's morning that i dread, another day of knowing of, the path i fear to tread. |
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*Alli4000*
since 2004-03-21
Posts 3188The World of Poetry |
Wonderful write!! ~Alli~ Happy Holidays! |
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Earth Angel Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215Realms of Light |
You came away with a lot more than most tourists do. Through your observant and caring eyes, you truly saw and experienced another world. Thank you for so vividly sharing it with your readers!  Linda |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
Enjoyed...James |
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wranx Member Elite
since 2002-06-07
Posts 3689Moved from a shack to a barn |
Worth every penny, this. |
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Cpat Hair
since 2001-06-05
Posts 11793 |
merry christmas my friend.... |
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