I asked my mother the Korean word

for nectarine and she told 

me 천도복숭아, heavenly 

peach. And I recognized the angel 

there, though she wouldn’t have 

believed I knew her. I

had heard her on the phone 

one room over, 

unripe and glorious 

like a child playacting 

stone fruit,

head held between

summer-bare knees 

acting out           being eaten         

remaining whole.


By Sarah Berg