Mangos in Poetry

Like any beautiful creation of nature, the mango is a muse for some artists. Depicted in paintings dating back thousands of years, celebrated in songs of yesterday and today, and even written about in poems. Since April is National Poetry Month, we’re sharing a poem with a surprising mango connection. It just goes to show you that a mango can inspire you anywhere.

 

The Sun in Bemidji, Minnesota

By Sean Hill

 

The sun isn’t even a pearl today—

its light diffused, strained gray

by winter haze—this the grayest

day so far, so when I enter the Wells

Fargo parking lot the last thing I expect

is to see the sun in the car next to mine.

I watch a woman make out with the sun,

and I’m jealous of the sun. Beautiful

beyond her desire—wanting the sun

so—she almost glows as she tugs

sweetness from his whiskers with

her teeth, and his drool runs down

her chin. I think the sun is a man,

but it’s hard to tell in this light. No,

it’s a mango, and I’m jealous of her.

 

Poem from Poets.org.