The Almond Thief

Caught at last
Sorry for smiling
But something was missing
Not being caught

I'll miss this:
Looking disinterested
While I test the air
For just the right bin

Of course I can smell them
Through the shell
Can't you?
Like liquor
Like cream
Like fallen tree bark
And hot sand

Some merchants I can't pass near
For the stale air coming off their crates
Sweetly-dry or
Savor-ripe
But others set out their new crops
And I have to take one

Yes, one

I'm neither greedy
Nor hungry
Nor particularly poor
It's just
They're better when they're taken
The flavor dies a little
When they're bought

A missing moment
In the middle of a stride
A risk of almond fingers
Against almond eyes
Then I'm away down the alleys
And up a ladder
To a quiet perch I keep

I crack the husk
With this stone
I keep in my pocket
And I eat

I crush the seed
And it blooms in my mind
Until I am far away
Across orchards, hills and deserts
Distant trade routes
Filled with ideas unreachable
By a milk and bread soaked mind
But conjured instantly
On a drop of taste
A breath of scent

Gathering it over my tongue
I strain it to tasteless pulp
I could almost spit the last out
But that would be
Ungrateful
And I like to think that some little part
Remains with me

I can complete my day then
You see
That is why you found me here
In the evening
In the late market
My hand caught
Fingering the edge of the crate
Stretching to steal another thought
To stitch together a new world

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Audio of "The Almond Thief":