Staring - May 11, 2026

I see you gawking at me,

this strange green potato thing

dangling from a thin stem,

puzzled by this puzzle piece

that doesn’t fit any puzzle

you’ve ever seen

in the wind you’ll see

my brothers and sisters

and I, swing on our ropes

well, we're watching you too,

rudely pointing and talking

loudly about us with a friend

but you know who we are, just

never saw us like this before -

mangoes in their teenage years

growing up fast, much faster

than you ever did, very soon

to mature and become adults

very sweet and very well-bred,

bowing to a knife and perhaps

your lips, now spewing politeness

saying “sorry I didn’t recognize you

before, but boy do I remember now”