Maturity

The manual instructs: upon completion

of a draft, set the poem aside, and let it ripen

before returning to it, for the final touch. 

I imagine, the outcome of each,

a plump, reddening peach, bursting

with juice at the seams –fleshy halves served

from among the perfectly ripe, taut to the touch,

and sweet to the tongue, with a bowl

of freshly whipped cream.