I spent the last week solidifying the mental image for “nectarine” and “tangerine” in my mind. This may seem simple, but nouns can be slippery for me. I have it though. I can differentiate those two almost instantly at this point. One, maybe two seconds of thought and I’m there.
I always put various stone fruits into the same produce bag. Today, next to the nectarines are apricots. I recognize the name from dried fruit I’ve yanked off between my teeth in the past. I love how tiny dried fruit becomes. Makes me wonder what would happen to a corpse left out in the sun.
Apricots, I say to myself as I reach for a few of them. They are so supple—the fur is much softer than a peach’s fuzz.
I make my way to the vegetables, then the fish counter, and then to the non-perishables.
As I put my items on the conveyor to check out, I tell the clerk that there are nectarines, plums, and… I don’t remember what they’re called… in that bag.
“Apricots,” he says.
“Ah. Yes, apricots. It’s hard for me to keep all those straight in my head.”
“I just remember them as the super soft ones.”
I look at his face. His face is super soft. Most of his skin is the same fleshy tan as the apricot; his cheeks the same pink as the fruit’s undertones. He is full of water and alive.
I wonder how the tactile feeling of something helps him remember its name.
“That’s good. That’ll help it stick,” I say.
What will actually make it stick is his tender apricot face, surrounded by a blur of fine, frizzy hair; the way he told me to be safe as he handed me my receipt.
I can't decide which I love most Maxine, your beautiful prose or the stunning painting. Beauty should n't be a competition, so that settles it. I love them both.
pineapple face how dare you bludgeon me with your contours
uhh
apple face why you so crisp, so fresh and so clean
and
lychee you... you face so soft and juicy and hot and then i bite and you so hard inside!