Paw Paws, by Diane Kendig

Dear Readers,

We were so excited and overwhelmed by the poems we received for our upcoming Mundane Joys anthology that we had to share a few on The Rail! This week we have a short and sweet poem on the magic of trees by Diane Kendig

Mundane Joys celebrates the less-obvious triumphs of every day life. Each copy comes with a custom Derailleur Press tea blend and seed paper to grow a garden of your own. Visit our store to reserve yours today!

Happy reading!

- Derailleur Press

Paw Paws

Maroon bells hang from palms
as wide as Rachmaninoff’s reach
on these trees that are clonal, like Dolly, 
so though a patch seems like many
way down yonder, it may be just one,
that onliest number, but must be two
to do its magic, dropping green globes
splotched with black continents, inside
a creamy sweetness as pocked with openings
as an old brain’s lost memories
and pitted with mahogany buttons, big
as the top button on a coat’s cowl-neck
that you undo to scoop this wild native fruit.

​

Diane Kendig‘s latest book is Prison Terms. Her poems have appeared in J Journal, Wordgathering, Valparaiso Review, and other journals. She ran a prison writing workshop in Ohio for 18 years, and now she curates the Cuyahoga County Public Library weblog, Read + Write. Her website is dianekendig.com and her blog, “Home Again”