Thirteen ways to enjoy a papaya (poem)

1 – Tropical greeting

A welcoming sign -
The glistening succulence
Of tropical rain.

2 – A papaya by any other name…

Betik petik, kates
Wan shou kuo, kuntaia. And
Kavunagaci.

3 - Dakini food 

Black seeds glistening
Piled high as an offering
to the transcendent

4 – 80%

Versatile papain
Digests protein to keep clear
American beer

5 – Means of support

Scarred by falling leaves
Each spongy and fibrous trunk
Endures, coffee-grey.

6 – Flower biology

Hermaphroditic,
White flowers pentandric. So 
diversely petalled.

7 – Flesh

Flesh flushed fiery hues
Sweet as tropical sunshine -
El Dorado’s gold.

8 – Just like a human

Tolerates cold, but
Needs warmth and humidity
to truly ripen

9 – Pharmacopia

Combats dyspepsia.
Degums natural silk. Also
Removes stray freckles.

10 - Columbus

Parched sailors gorging
On sweet new delights. Praised the
“Fruit of the angels” 

11  “One farmer in the village borrowed 20,000 baht – four months’ wages – to become a papaya farmer. But he did not know how or when to sow his papaya seeds and lost everything.”

Knowing when to sow
Separates rich harvest from 
Catastrophic loss.

12 – Serving suggestion

Sweetness of lush life
Made poignant and more vivid
By sourness of lime

13 – They just don’t taste the same here…

Traveller at home
Yearns for journey’s sweetness. So 
Must depart again.

 
This poem was inspired by a prompt at poefusion to write a 13 part poem around a single image, inspired by Wallace Stevens’ poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.

With the taste of genuine South American papaya fresh in my mouth and mind, it took very little time to choose what I wanted to write about! I’m not quite sure why I made each verse a haiku - I suppose I wanted a form that gave me short but structured verses. I made unashamed use of google to generate new ideas and images – fascinating what you can find out! Though fitting some of this information into 5 or 7 syllable lines was challenging, it probably stopped me overindulging and boring everyone with trivia!