I Should be Writing/Mango
Margaret King
I should be writing,
So of course—
First I ate a ripe mango
All by myself, juice
Dripping down my chin
Spoon sliding down skin.
Then I admired my own thighs
For a hot minute.
Then my calves, hips, shapely
Rear like an apple
Rounding me out
Because we should all be
Well-rounded.
Soaked the roots of my
Flowering orchid—
Even though I’ll have to cut it back soon—
Lavender finely-veined, shot through
With ripe, exquisite blackberry.
Mystical colors glowing in the late summer’s
Evening, grown long and heavy.
Danced in the kitchen, baked
Pie,
Thought of you with a grin
On my face and then
Wrote this poem.
