Mango People Grow Sunshine

Mangoes as far back as I can remember / lush succulent stringy / delectably decadent / sweet / dripping with fresh nectar flavor / alien aliveness / my mother’s favorite fruit / bizarrely beloved / ate so many, my veins flow with their juice / the third parental figure / yellow blood / sugary sunshine sustenance / bones made from mango trees / hair made of leaves from Jamaica / We climb slippery waterfalls and make friends with hummingbirds / We fall and scrape skin often / Bruised fruits / But Mangoes are from God / Every man’s gold / Honey colored riches / like every side of a mango / Inside and outside of a mango / So we make mango juice when it rains / Because we are indeed part mango / Mango humanoids / An indisputable fact / our eyes gleam like brilliant yellow stars in the dark / Liquid gold / It rains mango juice in our house / Mangos on a hot tin roof / Oozing, stickily out the front door / into the cracks of the concrete city sidewalk / Into neighbors' houses / into their glasses / shimmering life forces