Avocado green – redolent of
sickening seventies bathroom suites
But that green is only one variety
most avocados are black
Black and knobbly skins belie
smoothest of pale green flesh within
Smooth till smashed and served on toast
the latest trendy café go to – with marmite please
Go to Israel and elsewhere to see groves of
avocados greedily sucking the soil dry
Avocados ripen to the point of ripening
but left on the tree – ripen no more till picked
The ripeness of an avocado is inscrutable
hiding buttery softness or bruised decay – till cut open…
© Andrew Wilson, 2023
Tonight dVerse Poets Pub is hosted by Melissa Lemay in Uncategorized – here…
I laughed at “sickening seventies bathroom suites”
I did not know that about avocados. They won’t ripen further until picked. Smart avocados.❤️
Good news for farmers because if there’s a glut at market, they just leave the fruit there!
Very nicely done, Andrew. And I learned something new…
Avocados ripen to the point of ripening
but left on the tree – ripen no more till picked
Thanks Dwight – also the only fruit where the sugar content diminishes as they ripen…
I admit, I too thought of ‘sickening seventies bathroom suites’ – my daughter has just got rid of the one that was in the house they bought. I love the way you describe those ‘black and knobbly skin’. As I’ve mentioned in previous comments, my husband makes a mean avocado on toast with a poached egg. Inscrutable indeed!
I love avocados but it is always difficult to know if they will be good or not – I wouldn’t want to rely on them if I was having friends round for dinner…
A lovely avocado poem. I love avo on toast and in my salads.
Even in stir-fries added at the last minute…
A great write!! We had an avocado shag carpet in the kid’s playroom in the 60s. A wonder they actually enjoyed playing in it. When it wore out, we replaced it with bright red. What in the world were we thinking? (love avocado toast.)
Thank you Helen, it didn’t meet the prompt in terms of using all the words but I only get the prompts late in the evening here and so midweek if I have work the next day, it means a very rushed effort just before bed… A shag pile of any colour in a children’s room – think of the potential for stepping on hidden lego pieces or removing spilt food – what were you thinking indeed – lol
I think that the color avacado in bathrooms (and kitchens) coincided with the first avocados in the store… I still have a vague memory of my mother trying to serve it as a desert (well it is a fruit), not too succesful.
As I said to Dwight – it’s the only fruit where the sugar content goes down with ripening…
I didn’t encounter them till much later in life…
My parents’ first (and only) bathroom was a tasteful avocado. I think the other trendy colour was mushroom brown. The colour avocados go when they’re bruised.
Neither great choices in retrospect – “natural” colours and materials were the guiding principle in the 70’s…
Oh yes…..that horrible color paint that was so popular in those days! I do love guacamole….but I do not like marmite. I suppose it’s an acquired taste?
Many people hate Marmite but if you want to give it one last chance, try beans on toast spread with marmite – it tastes different and improves the over sweetness of the beans too…
Nice one
much🖤love
Thanks for visiting – do they grow avocados where you live Gillena?
The house my husband and I bought and still live in had that avocado green bathroom–toilet and tub. I didn’t mind it. It was much better than the ugly carpeting that they had in every room, including the kitchen.
I love avocado, but make my toast without the marmite, please.
I enjoyed hearing you reading the eulogy poem today.
Thank you Merril, I always enjoy reading out loud and it gives chance to see whether the line breaks and any punctuation I have used actually work…
What a fun poem. It reminded me of the avocado green shag carpet that we had growing up.
Little did I know that this poem would evoke two Avocado shag pile carpets…
Thanks for visiting!
A nice ode to avocados. It sounds to me like you have a love-hate relationship with them! I learnt a lot about them reading this.
Oh no1 I love them – except when I misjudge their ripeness and they have gone over…
Thanks for visiting OP
‘Avocado green – redolent of
sickening seventies bathroom suites’
Oh yes I remember that! This is gorgeously rendered, Andrew 😀
I do like this form Sanaa, and it was a treat to see your two hander. I have been writing a few poems with my partner taking line by line in order to encourage her back into writing poetry and it sometimes works as she takes over and finishes the poem…
I add avocado to every meal and the taste is just out of this world.
Good piece
Thanks for visiting Sam and good to hear you read on Saturday…
I have never been a fan of an avocado but, I did enjoy your poem. Maybe, its the texture but, I always ask them to hold the avocado when I am in a restaurant.
ps – enjoyed the fun fact about the avocado it might come in handy in a trivia game.
“Chacon á son gout” – Truedessa – “Chacon á son gout”…