Stone Fruit — Penny Ida

You are a glass of sweet amber
A thick slice of peach
Between tongue and teeth
And I chew your flesh
I will chew until I have
Consumed all that you are
Consumed so that I will not have to share
I will devour
Stone fruits over the sink
A mouth stained red
with the meat of a cherry
Suck and spit
Into dirt, into soil
The pit will grow into a tree
that our children will climb
Maybe we will climb
before our bones grow brittle
And we will climb into
the tree we have grown
With spittle and seed
and you will show me that you love me
and I will show you why I have stayed.

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Penny Ida is an unwilling resident of Mississippi, is deeply and wholly committed to the pursuit of both whimsy and literary excellence. Notably published in the KYWS ‘25 anthology, Penny’s work explores a variety of themes — including contentious familiar relationships, woodsy animals, and the essence of girlhood.