The Hollow Fruit – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Photo: strangesounds.com

“Power is actualised only when word and deed have not parted company.” Hannah Arendt

The Hollow Fruit

I fertilised my mind and
pruned my soul with 
eager waiting as the fruit
of life began to ripen with 
anticipation, and soon I 
placed the melon, all glossy
and firm, on my table for 
sacrifice, and I took my 
knife and sliced it open,
only to find that it was 
devoid of seed and lacking
in good fruit, a false promise
and a sterile facade of all that
I'd hoped, perhaps imagined,
that would be mine, and I 
felt empty inside.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

35 Comments

Filed under Free Verse, Gardening, life, poem, politics, quote, Uncategorized

35 responses to “The Hollow Fruit – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

  1. Reading the entrails of a melon was a divinatory art practiced only by remote tribes of the Amazon… 😉
    Arendt now? You never cease to surprise me my friend. 👍🏻

    Liked by 3 people

  2. You are supposed to thump the rind of a melon to tell if it is good.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Deep and insightful 💞👌👌
    All the efforts (fertilised my mind, pruned my soul) and then hollow result (mellon) – I can truly relate with this, not at a very mature level, when I score lower than the average after studying hard till late night.
    PS, maybe I should have been more regular

    Liked by 1 person

  4. There’s a lot this could apply to besides fruit I feel like. Love it!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. This is scary but profound.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. The fruit of the existential crisis. Who of us, having survived to a certain age, have not felt this.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. All those empty promises… you weave the tale within so well, Paul.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. This is a heartbreaking metaphor for so much of life.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, the lies that unravel, especially the one’s we tell ourselves. And most especially the mad thought of progressive transformation (enter the politicians and business leaders).

      Like

  9. lync56

    I felt your sadness in this poem – very emotive

    >

    Liked by 1 person

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