These are “Thai maroon” guavas, a type of red apple guava cultivar. Image in the public domain, by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
Flowering
by Leigh Ward-Smith
You want me for
your hot guava girl.
Succulently sweet,
not too loud.
Squeezable, tease-able,
not too proud.
Juice, jelly, jam:
able to be quashed
under the press of your flesh.
Pulp: pink or cream,
and willing.
Prone to ardor, rot, parasites.
You’re convinced my fruits will mummify
without your potable vigor, sure
my feathered veins will wither.
Still, I propagate in any soil
I desire.
This poem—which probably would have been titled “The Botany of Desire” if Michael Pollan hadn’t used it already, darn him!—was inspired by last week’s Grammar Ghoul (Chimera) 66-word challenge #4, whose deadline I missed a few days back. My advance apologies for the formatting in this; I’m not an html expert.
The prompt word was guava, as you might have guessed. For more on this fascinating fruit, you can try the University of Hawai’i Knowledge Master database on pests, crops, and much more, as I did. And also be sure to visit Grammar Ghoul Press, which has a garden-ful of weekly prompts, boys and ghouls.
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Leigh's Wordsmithery 
I totally love this poem, although am rather envious of anyone who has the energy to be a hot guava girl!
Ditto, Sarah. I tried (unsuccessfully) to steal some of this narrator’s fire!
Nice job!
I love “Botany of Desire” 🙂
Me, too. I’ll get that Pollan (j/k)! 🙂 Wait, wouldn’t his surname be more apt as Pollen?!
Very nice! Sensual and earthy, as in Neruda’s poetry, yet well controlled.
That’s awfully high praise, Robert–both you and Neruda. Wow! It will keep me inspired for some time to come. And BTW, congratulations on the chapbook’s upcoming publication. Yay for getting recognized in the poetry world for worthy word-works, never mind that terrible tongue twister of mine!
High praise, perhaps, but well deserved! And thank you! I’m just thrilled to have someone select my manuscript for publication.
You never know, Robert; I’m glad you’ve persevered! Do you plan to autograph copies of the chapbook?
Hmm. I hadn’t thought that far, but I imagine it will be possible.
Botany of desire would’ve been cool 🙂 I like what you did with this poem… quite sensual.
Hot guava girl indeed! A very eloquent and steamy poem Leigh. 🙂
rest assured that after reading this poem, i’d never look at a guava the same way agan.