Just Out Of Reach Poem by William Jackson

i loved you once
but you were always
just out of reach

i used to climb into the grapefruit tree
into the canopy of fragrant leaves
to stretch on tip-toe
to reach for the sun kissed orbs
being mindful of the green thorns
being careful to not break
even one of the delicate branches

always at arm's length
and behind a cautious smile
you projected a quiet confidence
(touched by sorrow)

each season i would harvest
the pink fleshy fruits
while no one except the two of us
showed the slightest interest
and of course it pleased me
to share them with you

one day you confessed yourself
a passionate ice-cube
but i knew better-
you were a smoldering fire
waiting to flash

once when i hurriedly reached
for a particularly fine globe
a thorn pierced my palm -
raked my forearm

i had always wanted
to touch your face,
to tenderly kiss you
but i never did

the pain did not stop me
from plucking the ripe fruit
from savoring the taste
of it on my tongue
the sweet tartness
of each succulent wedge

and i came to realize
i could never have you
not in the way i wanted

it took time for the puncture wound
for the red inflamed weals- -
for me to heal

after your elopement
i never climbed the tree
or tasted the grapefruit again

i realized that you
like the best fruit
had always been
just out of reach