Pamplemousse

The Student Literary Journal of Vermont State University

Turning Forty: What I Say, What I Know

Poetry

I say no sex is worth dying for, no man
worth living with—nevermind for—
I say Caution comma is my new first name,
my old first name, my last—
I say not even Death will know me.

I know the first bite of any apple’s best,
the one the mouth’s juices leap to meet,
whose sweet sting laves the tongue’s ache,
the bite against which hunger breaks—
and the pleasure of being bitten.

I say no sex is worth dying for, no man worth living with—nevermind for— I say Caution comma is my new first name, my old first name, my last— I say not even Death will know me. I know the first bite of any apple’s best, the one the mouth’s juices leap to meet, whose […]