EARLY WINTER FRUIT

Ripening takes time.

The persimmons in my backyard

are teaching me this:

the yellow-orange 

slowly darkening

with each day,

the limbs drooping

a little more

as the fruit gathers heft

among the green- 

veined leaves.

What I don’t know is

when do I harvest 

these plump orbs, 

pluck them from 

their gangly branches?

And…where else in my life 

is there a ripening  

that deserves my attention

that only a season

like this one can offer

so slowly, so meticulously?

Behind what branch

and leaves, is it hiding?