Poetry by Janna Grace

                      eflon CC



​
Someone Should Have Told You at 15

you are the purple that meets the red
in an unripe plum,
you may feel ready to eat
soft, for the most part
eager,
but when bitten
your insides show you
are tart

still

you have a stone inside
and time
to sweeten
to be
soft all over,
time to be
ready

to leave the basket
for a palm, sure
if you choose--
but know your pit first
holds poison, can break
the teeth
that line the mouth of the world.

​
​

Janna Grace's work has been published in The Bacopa Literary Review, Otoliths, and Eunoia Review, among others. Between teaching writing at Rutgers University, editing Lamplit Underground, and reading for Longleaf Review, she works as a freelance and travel writer. Her debut novel will be published through Quill Press in 2021.

---