Open your almonds slowly
by Jessica Brown
published in Honest Ulsterman, June 2018
The air is so still I worry something bad is
Coming as I watch the encased almond
Hanging from the tree and I wish it was me,
Sheltered from the beautiful valleys
Tumbling over themselves to plant death in my head.
I’ll howl at the sky if a leaf falls
Carry it mournfully in my pocket
And people will know by my face there’s
Been a loss.
But my body doesn’t know how to
Absorb this beauty, I just have hyperbole, so
I pretend it’s a postcard because I never
Learnt to drink with my eyes and these miles
Of untouched earth are causing concerning levels of
Calm in my cortisol veins, with no way to
Come back out again. Little almond, if this view
Kills me, promise me you’ll come out slowly.
