POETRY -
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Photo by Weebly.com
Seasons of Peaches
by Amy Benedicty
Two perfectly juicy white peaches per day including one for a fresh Bellini
Times two months Times—if luck holds and water flows and orchards grow—twenty years Slightly expanded if compromise includes yellows, freestones, donuts Really quite finite How many more long drives down the coast for Santa Maria strawberries fresh from the fields Fragrant, succulent varieties never shipped Enjoyed by the pickers and a few festival visitors Certainly no more than ten more years of these, best case Onward to almonds Refuel at a gas station forty miles south of Chico The air rancid with petrol and a strange odor Refined to fragrance as the almond groves appear Ground covered in snowy petals How many more seasons to breathe in the blossoms? Cherries? Nectarines? Mangos? Who’ll buy the juicy? I will, for as long as I’m able. |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Benedicty is an author, translator and freelance editor. Her work has appeared in Voices from the Middle, Through Mathematical Eyes, and Poetry for the People Press. Amy taught writing at the secondary school level where she won a Golden Apple Fellowship to UC Berkeley for her work with urban students. After leaving the classroom, Amy was the director of the teacher outreach program at the World Affairs Council. In her spare time Amy enjoys hiking, most recently in Bhutan; cross country skiing and visiting her far-flung grandchildren in Amsterdam and Manhattan.
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Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to the Vistas & Byways volunteer staff.
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