Young Fruit

Love, captured when young

--like fruit—

is apt to bruise

and turn to meal

for lack of cultivation.

The young starfruit,

kept in warm humidity

and rotated weekly

can produce delicious results

but the high school crush

grows bitter on the tongue

poisoning the heart from within.

Guard your heart

behind protective walls—

wrap it up in temperate climes

to avoid spoiling you love

with the heat of passion

or the early freeze of disappointment.