Forbidden fruit a flavor has
~Emily Dickinson
That lawful orchards mocks;
How luscious lies the pea within
The pod that Duty locks!
I will probably not eat this peach, but not from any sense of duty. If this summer is anything like the last few, ravenous nocturnal critters will emerge like clockwork exactly twenty-four hours before the fruit is ripe enough to pick, and they will denude both peach trees in one spectacular all-night fruit-gorging orgy. They mock my lawful orchard.
Sigh.
If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to salvage enough for a pie or two. There will be a handful of peaches for eating fresh. And they will be the sweetest of all, not because they are forbidden, but because they are hard won.
The Emily Project 