Ode On A Green Banana Poem by Jim Veney

Thou still un-tasted child of tropic lands
Thou greenish morsel waiting to be found
Among the broad leaves of a jungle deep
With thy siblings hanging upside down.
What sweet aroma thou will soon exude,
One basic smell, that of banana oil
That rises to the nose when thou art ripe
And clings tight, oh yes, even as thou spoil.
But thou art green and green thou will remain
Till picked, what joy, what happy dénouement.

Eaten fruit is sweet, but that uneaten
Is sweeter still, therefore, we wait to taste
The nectar thy kind gift to our palette
When we pluck thee new, from thy skin encased.
Fair fruit, beneath the boughs of thy broad leaves
Thou hide until the pickers find thee there
Gentle fruit, never, never will thou know
Peace that comes from ripening on thy plant,
A ripening that gives that special glow
Of fruit that in its nature should be fair.

Ah, happy, happy boughs that will not see
The bleak cold of winter, the blight of snow.
And, happy morsel, undiscovered
Amidst thy siblings, hanging green like thou.
So many there, so many, many there
For sometime green but soon then yellow too.
And with thy sisters put aboard a boat
To grace the shelves of Walmarts everywhere
Slowly changing there from green to yellow
To be purchased then thou fruit, fine and fair.

Who are these ones who thee would now possess?
By what god of commerce are they obsessed
Who push the cart, wired, wobbling wheels and all
Who’ve come to seek thee on the counter there
From many places, homes, streets, near and far
Who choose thee over apple, over pear
And place thee in their cart so tenderly
So not to bruise thee or to leave a scar
That later still would turn brown certainly
And make thee less appealing, yes by far?

O tuberous shape! Fair fruit we all adore
Now blessed yellow, best for our repast
With ice cream or with cereal before
Or better still when dipped in chocolate
Or eaten solely by thine self at last
When we are old and chewing is a chore
Thou shall remain, soft yet firm for eating
A friend to man, whom I will still adore
Banana is joy, joy is banana
That’s all ye know and all ye need to know.