FRUIT

What use the blueprint, if materials lack?
Growth will need energy, easy for the eager germ.
The provident parent prepares a survival pack
For rapid release, when waiting has reached its term.

Faithful, as the flowers fade and the seed grows stronger,
The patient parent lifts its leaves to the light,
Harvesting strength, for its own growth no longer,
To endow a living legacy, future bright.

Fruit trees, symbol of nature’s abundance,
Rustle the light, dappling the infant fruit,
Processing sugar, reaping the sundance,
To store round the seedcore, ready when seeds shall shoot.

Rainbow of fruit and berries, gushing with juice,
Delight to the eye, ecstasy on the tongue:
Tints and textures, packaged for practical use:
Moisture and energy, perfect for struggling young.

Grain, stuffed with starch, stores fuel for a hundred-fold,
To rise like a rocket, released by the warmth and wet.
Nuts guard their wealth behind walls, like a banker’s stronghold.
Through frost and snow, they’ll suffer many seasons yet.

Defences cracked, the naked naïve youngster
Rushes for the light, unfurling a bold seedleaf,
Oil from the kernel, fuel for this greedy guzzler,
Finding his feet, fast-launched in his leap for life.

Carbohydrates or hydro-carbons,
Accumulated riches, life’s energy store:
The blueprint is launched, released from maternal ribbons,
To await its moment, true to the genes it bore.

Suddenly, for strawberries, slowly, for oaks,
Breeding will show in new generations,
When light invites and moisture soaks,
Greedily grateful for survival rations.