They sag in just the way I remember, clotting against each
other in nests of purple and gold, skins thinning and flesh softening in cracks
of sidewalk concrete. As a child I used
to eat them off a tree at the edge of a cotton field, loving them more than wild
plums but not as much as blackberries. Their feral sweetness in my throat
tickled with its hint of something gone to ruin, something almost too wild to
be with. Only once I picked them before they’d ripened, the blister of their
greenness sending me home for water in a hurry, my mouth full of trickery and
insolence. Some years later I made some jam with them. It sat on my shelf in jars
until someone insisted I spread it on toast, and I did. My teeth missed the
skins and the nudge of the pit. Wasps still crawl inside their golden hearts, I
notice now, intoxicated with loamy fruitflesh and the heady disappearing
nourishment of summer.
©Laura Sorrells 2007--2012
all rights reserved
Posts
Beautiful and tasty write. Even as summer fades, I nostalgically recall the sweet taste of my first watermelon of the season. Pure heaven it was. xo
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, that's a nostalgic flavor for me too, as well as sliced canteloupe with a hint of salt.
ReplyDeleteBut persimmons aren't good till the first frost, are they? My grandmother made persimmon pudding and it was wonderful. I have her recipe, but no persimmons. Maybe when I am back in the South in September, I find some at the old trees in the woods behind her garden. She used to always have a pan of it waiting when she knew I was coming by.
ReplyDeletePersimmon pudding. that sounds outrageous. where, if I may ask, is her garden? it's been so many years since I actually ate a persimmon that I don't recall what time of year they're good, but I took this picture in midsummer.
ReplyDeleteHer home is in Moore County, NC. Unfortunately, she now lives 3 hours away in an assisted living place near my uncle, but the house is still there and is used by family when in the area. I may have to dig out the recipe and do a blog posting on persimmon pudding. Persimmons were always harvested in the fall. My grandmother would process the pulp and free it so that she could have pudding available all year.
ReplyDeleteI posted the recipe in my sagecoveredhills.blogspot.com blog.
ReplyDeleteI will seek it out. That's just the kind of thing I love.
ReplyDelete