“1.
Hold everything very carefully unless it is your lover's
back. Then, become metal, become teeth, do not gentle
yourself for any man. Do not change for the ones who think
that you should be softer, less mouth, less voice. You do not
owe regrowth to anyone but yourself. When they begin to ask
for you to shape yourself around them, leave. Shut the door
firmly. Do not look back.
2. Do not waste what you have, use the skin. Lick the insides
until there are seeds in your teeth. Share fruit with others,
share fruit with your lover. Use your mouth and your tongue
to discuss the inner anatomy of a melon. Remember that it is
the sweetest on the 28th day, remember that when you open it,
it will spill over your hands and his. Lap it up, after,
bathe together. Later, you will find seeds between your
thighs. Wash again, they lied about cherry trees growing in
your stomach, but you never know.
If the pulp is running down your arms, lick off the excess
before it reaches your elbows. It's a b.itch
to get off, you will have to shower and you will find it
everywhere– in your hair, and in all the lines within
your palms. You'll taste sweet for days. He'll love
it, don't you worry and if he doesn't? Try kiwis
instead.
3. I've seen you hold things between your hands and crush
them until they are leaking out of the spaces between your
fingers. Learn when you need to be gentle, learn to caress
instead of squeeze. If you tighten yourself around something
that does not want to have you, it will destroy itself trying
to escape. It will turn inside out. Do not force it, sigh and
let it go. We're not talking about fruit anymore, I hope
you know that.
4. There is a secret to the perfect cut and it is all in the
holding of the fruit. Grip too tightly and you'll ruin
it, not hard enough and it'll slip out of your fingers
and your skin will learn the knife. Be careful with yourself,
be careful with your hands and sharp objects. When you are
eating avocado cut it through the middle, twist, pop out the
seed. Do not attempt to eat the seed. This one tastes best in
salad, try chicken.
5. When you are holding mangoes be careful with the skin,
take too much off and you're wasting the fruit, not
enough and it's bitter to the tongue. Take it with you
when you fall in love. Be careful with the skin. At dawn take
him by the shoulders and lift him to you. Take his mouth and
his hands. Undress him softly and then undress him further.
When he is shaking in your hands, put your mouth to his ears
and tell him that you will love him for as long as you think
you can. If it is forever, simply smile. Nibble his ear. Let
the light touch him with you.”
— My Mother's Lessons on Peeling Fruit and Keeping
Lovers
