This is who we are. We make
crabapple jam when our peaches fail
to change the subject.
Shocked to be stuck
with the orchard we keep
ignoring, confused at the way
it ripens again like it's alive,
we cover the sugar-
heaped pot of fruit
and wait till it turns
to ruby sap we pour inside a curve
of beveled glass. Taste a little
spoon of it: Would you ever
guess it started bitter?
And look how it glitters when
we seal it shut.