Dragon Fruit by Ciree
You unlock and open the silent black gate,
Our feet are on the grass and above
The fragile thorns of the wild flowers.
Your finger points the green dragon fruit,
"That's how it is when it is young."
We want to put a handkerchief over it,
We have to protect what is precious.
“‘Dragon fruit’ came to me months ago when my friend showed me the growth stages of dragon fruit in her backyard. Some of the young dragon fruits were damaged by the insects. Then after a while she said that her neighbor is beating their child frequently. I don't feel like sharing this to anyone because it feels like I have no right to speak about something that does not concern me, especially since I grew up from a conservative country where being nosy is frowned upon. For me, the poem itself has a self-defeating voice that doesn't give justice to the topic it wants to address.”
Ciree is a poet based in the Philippines. His writing has appeared in the third issue of The Skrew Syndication, the Backwards Trajectory, and in the upcoming Autumn anthology of Sunday Mornings at the River.